A Labyrinthine Love
by Riraberr
Summary: Lifeguarding, half-caf triple grande non-fat no foam Caramel Macchiatos, an epic paintball war, an armored dog, collegian and familial mishaps, and recitation of Shakespeare all rolled up to make a summer they will never forget... or regret. SasuHina.
1. An Amnestic Assignment

June 3rd, a Saturday.

Hinata looked at her calendar, scratching her chin. It was circled a few times with a giant red permanent marker. _Why though? _She thought to herself, tilting her head. That was today! There was something she probably had to do today that she couldn't remember.

Tossing aside her Hello Kitty collectible calendar, she started to walk around her room, raking her memory. Normally she was really good about remembering just about everything, but she failed to understand the screaming red message circling the date. Finally getting exasperated she plopped herself down on her bed stomach up.

The kitten she received from her nanny as a ridiculously belated 18th birthday gift hopped up on the dark purple spread and padded over to her. It stepped lightly onto her stomach before working it's way up to just below her breasts and settling down.

"Komatsu-chan, what did I forget?" she murmured, twirling her fingers in the kitten's long, gray-blue fur. Komatsu only mewed in response, flipping around so she was on her back.

_Well, school has been out for a week, so it can't be anything scholastic… Maybe it's… Oh!_

She sat up, rudely flinging a now tousled Komatsu off. Today was the day she was to start at her new job!

It was true that Hinata was very well off and that money wasn't a problem, but she just wanted a job just so she could have something to do with herself during the summer. So, she had applied for a summer job through her school and got a pretty good one.

_"Hinata, why do you need a job? You're a fucking heiress!" Kiba questioned, leaning on her shoulder as he looked at the card she was given._

_"Because, Kiba-kun, I wanted one." She answered with quiet authority. She never really stuttered around people she knew as well as Kiba. But when it came to others, especially a certain blond haired idiot, it was pretty bad._

_"And you always get what you want don't you?"_

_Kiba was always making fun of her for being who she was, a Hyuga. Ever since they were in middle school he would joke about it. Being as gentle and even-tempered as she was, she just took it directly._

_"Wow, nice one! Hyuga Hinata: Lifeguard. I'm going swimming every single day."_

_He was always hitting on her too._

_"As long as you don't drown on purpose, I have no problem with that…" She muttered, shrugging him off her shoulder and picking up her bag to walk to her next class. "Come on, we'll be late…"_

Lifeguard. Guarder of Lives. That was all she wanted to do anyway. She hated to see people hurt especially when she could have done something about it. And now she was in the perfect position for it.

She was due to report to the beach at noon, and it was 10, so she decided that she was going to get everything together, the red lifeguard suit, her first aid kit, towel, sunglasses, suntan lotion and finally her little red whistle they had given her when she got the lifeguard job.

Honestly, she hoped that nobody would drown or get hurt on her watch. It wasn't as if she couldn't save someone in that situation, it was more that she really didn't want to have to. _I'm like Shikamaru, 'saving people is too troublesome…' _She thought with a smile.

Finally at 11:30, she decided to put on the dreaded red swimsuit. Well, dreaded for her, most likely not for anyone else. The fact was that last year, when Ino applied for the lifeguard job, she basically has a piss fit when she figured out what she would be wearing. So she petitioned and somehow, through her father's connections, got the opportunity to design the new swimsuit.

So, instead of the normal screaming red one-piece with the first aid sign on the chest, it was now bordering on scandalous. But it really wasn't, Hinata just didn't like the idea of revealing so much skin.

The suit was now a two-piece bikini with the first aid insignia on the waist. If her father knew she would be sporting that suit for her job, she didn't even know what would happen. She was the kind of person who would always wear a one-piece, probably to her death.

It wasn't as though she didn't have a good frame, because she knew she did. She just didn't want people gawking at her and seeing her so exposed. _Ino, why did you have to be so persuasive?_

Putting it on with a grimace, she looked at herself. It did look good. Too good. With all the creepers and stalkers out there, covering up was one of the ultimate defenses—besides being ugly, of course. So instead of just wearing that, she fished out a cream-colored tunic and threw it on over the suit. After looking at it in the mirror for a few moments, one side slid down her shoulder showing half of the top. She sighed, shaking her head.

It took a few moments of digging around in her large, cherry red, leather handbag (that she rarely used) to locate her keys. Using her impeccable sense of touch she felt for the tiny stuffed Kyuubi key chain, and in doing so found her keys. Grabbing the ring in her teeth she once again dove into the perilous depths of her bag to fish out her iPhone to check the time. 11:47, 13 minutes left.

Nimbly opening the door that led to the garage, she took the keys from her mouth and pressed a button, grinning as she heard her car start with just the touch. In the garage she sidestepped around her father's shiny, black Mercedes Benz, her cousins silver, little and yet powerful Saab, and various other spectacular cars belonging to other people who lived in the Hyuga manor.

Before her stood her crown jewel, the gift received from her father for her 18th birthday that she was almost too humble to accept. _Almost_. Hinata was actually thinking about returning it and giving the money away until… well… she drove it.

The surge of adrenaline that coursed through her veins when she first tested the acceleration, the feel of the cool, black leather on her hands as she grasped the steering wheel, and how the shiny red exterior reflected the sun just called to her. She could NOT give this up. Though not one for cars and flashy things, she allowed herself to indulge in just a little Porsche. Just one, though, I mean, she wasn't excessive.

Ahem.

It was a red convertible Porsche Boxster S with it's top up, for now. Not her style at all, but she loved it. Kiba was ecstatic about it and she new Shino liked it too, from knowing him so well to understand when he liked something. Both Shino and Kiba had been her best friends ever since 8th grade, when they were assigned to work together on a yearlong project. At first none of them particularly liked the situation, but soon realized that they worked well together with Kiba the loudest, Shino the quietest and Hinata somewhere in the middle.

Hiashi-sama did not know that she had two boys for best friends, one of which was a notorious flirt. Hinata was good about keeping things on the down low, and was also good about sneaking them around the house whenever they were there. Ninja tactics at their finest.

Getting in her car that was already running from the ignition button on the key, she switched her large, vintage sunglasses from the top of her head to her nose, running her fingers through her hair to fix it. Right when she was about to put the car into drive, her phone rang loudly, buzzing noisily on the leather interior of the passenger seat. Sighing as she reached for it, she frowned when she saw the picture id of Sakura in a victory pose. _What does she want to talk about? We just hung out last night…_ She thought, biting her lip before answering the call.

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan." Hinata said lightly, using her usual polite morning greeting.

"Hinata-chan? It's not still morning is it? Oh, well, I guess technically…" Sakura said sounding slightly flustered.

"Eh?" She said, taking the phone away from her ear to look at the time on the screen. 11:58, shit. "Sakura, I'm kinda late for work, but never mind that. What's going on?"

"I've been calling people all day, since 8 this morning. Ino and Naruto managed to have a skulls session and decided that the party we had at the end of the school year wasn't enough. And since last year was senior year, 'it's all the more necessary'!" Sakura said, and Hinata could visualize her rolling her eyes.

"So, they got you to invite people?"

"Yeah, I owe Ino, so I'm 'helping', and by helping, I of course mean doing all the work. She called me at 7:30… during summer… on a Saturday. That's like, a double negative…"

Hinata chuckled; drumming her neat, self-done French manicured nails on the wheel. "A positive then… so, I'm invited?"

"Of course you are… It's on Tuesday the 6th at Ino's house. At… uh, 8. Going from 8 to whenever I think… Yeah, that's it."

"Ano, who's all going?" Hinata muttered, picking at a spot on her chin while looking at her reflection in the rearview mirror. That was a question she hated asking, because it sounded like she was judging if she was going or not solely off the company.

"Naruto's going, don't worry. He's the one to plan it after all…"

"Oh! R-right…"

She totally forgot he was the co-planner. Trust Sakura to know exactly whom she was asking for.

"It's going to be all of us, but I need you to invite Neji, Lee and Tenten since you're related to one of them."

"And you don't want to talk to Lee, right?"

Sakura moaned over the phone. "Uh huh, he's pestering me like mad. He really doesn't know when to give up!"

"Yeah, you know you like the attention…" Hinata shot, taking down the top of the convertible, having decided she wanted it down today.

"Shut up."

"Sorry, Sakura. I have to be getting to the beach." She said, knowing that their conversation had gotten out of the 'necessary' stage and moved into the 'idle talk' realm of wordplay.

"The beach? Why?" Sakura asked, honestly curious. Hinata knew she loved going to the beach.

"I'm working as a lifeguard this summer."

"Oh, through the school program? I was thinking of doing that, but I decided fucking around this summer would be more fun…"

"Sakura, I'm late, if you want to talk, come to the beach, okay? I'll see you later!"

"Bye."

Laughing to herself, Hinata cancelled the call and tossed her phone back into her bag. She was a few minutes late, which was fine.

Ever since she started high school, she began to calm down and take things as they came. It was a great leap from her timid, nervous self when she was twelve. So, she knew she couldn't do anything about being any faster without breaking the law, and she wasn't going to hate herself or Sakura for talking too long. Taking things calmly was just what she did now.

Pressing the button to open the garage, she waited, smiling as the door opened up enough for the sun to get in her face. _I'm so spoiled…_ She thought contentedly. She really wasn't that kind of girl; she was one of the people who take the small gift over the large one. She was one of those people who never took something unless she needed it, and sometimes not even then.

She was privileged, but never took advantage of it. Only this particular situation brought out how lucky she really was. Cruising through the sunny streets in a bright red convertible with the wind streaking through her long, perfectly straight hair, rushing off to a job she definitely did not need, Hinata just looked like an heiress. It was reminiscent of Paris Hilton; only the Hyuga was prettier and… well… not crazy.

Pulling up in a turn off near the beach, she looked and saw that there was no one in the towering, white wood lifeguards chair. She was the first one today, so that was to be expected. From what she could see, there were only a few people there this early, which was good. Once she waked up to the chair, she flipped the sign to say, "Lifeguard on Duty" and climbed her way up to her post.

The sun was merciless today, no clouds to speak of and no wind either. Hinata put on a mountain of sun block, focusing on her nose and the back of her neck, the places where she most prone to burn.

After a few hours, many more people started to spill in. This was the best beach in the city, and it was the hottest day in a while. She was tempted to take off the shirt she was wearing above her suit, but thought better of it, given the amount of people now at the beach.

Around two in the afternoon she saw a familiar car rolling down the street. A green Jeep Wrangler. It parked about 100 feet away, under a willow tree that was on the boulevard.

Kiba stepped out of the driver's seat, twirling his keys around his finger with a smug air, his dark aviator sunglasses resting on his nose. She smiled and waved, causing him to run his hand through his hair in an attempt to show off his chest and biceps. Akamaru jumped out of the back to join Kiba where he patted his great white dog on the head before starting to walk over to her.

Out of the front passengers seat came Sakura with wearing her hair up in a messy bun and a green bikini. She shook out her white boho skirt and took out a pair of small but still awesome sunglasses. She followed Kiba's gaze and gave Hinata a thumbs up, signaling that she took Hinata's invitation to come to the beach seriously.

To her horror, Naruto jumped out of the backseat of the open car, shaking his hair and laughing at something that someone said just a few moments before they parked. Hinata's breath caught, watching him in all his glory. He, like Kiba, wasn't wearing a shirt, which caused a pink tinge to grow in her cheeks. Oh my.

She didn't even notice Sasuke jumping out of the other back seat. He was the only boy there with a shirt on and a book in his hand, though unknown to her. Naruto always stole her gaze, even when he wasn't even paying her any attention.

"HINATA!" Sakura called, waving her sunglasses in the air from the street. As she did, Naruto, smiling his foxlike grin, undid the bow that held her top on, causing her to catch it before it revealed anything.

Hinata frowned, knowing that he would never do that to her. She glanced at Kiba and saw that he was laughing with Naruto and then saw Sasuke for the first time. Since when has he been here?

It took a second for Sakura to double-knot her tie before she smacked Naruto upside the head. Hinata's heart sank. Sakura flirted with him whether she knew it or not. She couldn't help it, they were friends, but there was a possibility of becoming more. Until Sakura realized that Sasuke would never be with her, she wouldn't be able to see past her infatuation. As soon as she opened her eyes more, she'd realize why Naruto was such a good catch.

And as soon as that happened, Naruto would be lost. Hinata knew that, and she was caught between being happy for her friend and being depressed on account of Naruto. It was basically a lose-lose situation unless she could somehow pluck up the courage to admit how she felt.

This was going to be a fun afternoon.


	2. A Bitter Buck

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, not am I claiming that I do. Actually, I'm disclaiming it with this here disclaimer.

June 3rd, a Saturday. Of course, Sasuke had no idea of the date. He didn't really pay attention to that sort of thing, someone else could just tell him when he asked. No need to know when someone, namely Sakura, would always know.

Opening his eyes slowly, he flinched as the sun penetrated his now exposed eyes. _Ugh, morning. I feel so wacked out, what did I do last night? _Slowly his gaze fell down to the sleeping figure at his side. A girl.

_Oh yeah… Hana…_

The girl was nuzzled into his bare chest, her long red hair cascading on his sheets. He had been out last night, and obviously picked up a girl. Matsumoto Hana was a sophomore in the local college who was at the bar he went to with Naruto last night. She had been sending him drinks and notes and he finally just went over to her.

What happened was just 'whatever' to him. He really didn't care about her and the only reason he actually took her to his house was because he was a little on the drunk side. That's what he did, what he excelled at: one-night stands.

Hell, after this morning he would never see her again.

His head was pounding slightly, a dull pain that was getting sharper and sharper as time went on. _I should get some aspirin…_ He thought slowly, stretching out the arm that was not under Hana. Casting a glance over at his digital alarm clock, he saw it was 1 in the afternoon.

Slowly and deliberately he took his arm out from under her, stopping when she repositioned herself. Finally he got free of her and his bed and stumbled his way into the bathroom. In his mirror he saw his own pale face looking back with tired eyes. _Hangover alert. I need some coffee. _

After grabbing 3 aspirin and washing them down with water from the faucet, he slipped on a pair of dark jeans over his boxers. He got to his kitchen without sparing Hana a second glance and started rummaging in the cupboards for some coffee mix. _Why do I never buy any coffee? _

He was faced with two options, well three. One was to wake Hana and go get coffee with her, which he didn't really want to do. Another was to just go down to get coffee, leaving her there with a note, which he felt like doing. The third was to not get coffee at all, which he absolutely would not do.

"Sasuke-kun?"

He grimaced without turning around. Hana was waking up. "Hn,"

"What're you doing?" she asked groggily, yawning as she spoke.

"Getting coffee, you want some? I'm just going to the place nearby…"

She started to get up, holding the sheets around her naked form. "I'll go with you!"

_She perked up fast…_ "No, that's ok; I'll pick something up for you. Coffee sound nice?"

"Hai, a half-caf triple grande non-fat no foam Caramel Macchiato please." She said, falling back onto his bed to stretch more.

He mimed shooting himself in the head when he knew she wasn't looking. _She__** would**__ get the most complicated thing… _He thought murderously, looking back at her. Taking a tight black shirt from the floor where it was thrown off last night, he slipped it over his head, smoothing out the wrinkles. "Right,"

Sasuke yawned as he descended the front steps outside of his apartment, running a hand through his dark locks. _I wonder when she'll leave._ He honestly wanted her gone as soon as possible so he could once again have his apartment to himself.

Why did he do it? Why did he pick up mostly older women for one night? Because, despite his dashing, princely looks and mysterious appeal, he was lacking something, the one thing that he could never get

So, to make up for the fact that he was romantically distressed, he slept around. Often.

The sun was murderously bright in his eyes, making him wish he had enough foresight to grab a pair of sunglasses. The coffee shop was only 2 blocks away, so he just took to the sidewalks, passing the open bistros and shops. As he strolled by, a group of college girls turned their heads, lifting up their designer sunglasses to get a better look.

Yeah, he was _that_ good.

"Oi! Teme!"

Sasuke turned, hearing his nickname. Well, it was one person's nickname for him, and it wasn't even a nickname, more of a diss-name. Naruto was waving him down from the other side of the street, causing people walking to stare at the pair of them.

Not wanting to make a scene, Sasuke motioned for him to come over to his side of the street, the one with the coffee shop. Naruto dodged around a car completely unnecessarily, and was grinning as he made his way up to him.

"What, Naruto?"

Naruto cleared his throat. "Ahem, you are cordially invited to a get-together of epic proportions. To be held at the house of Yamanaka Ino, this party is initiating at 8 and going into the next century!"

Sasuke just stared. He was such an idiot. A good friend, but an idiot. "Okay… why?"

"Psh, because the last one wasn't good enough!"

"Are you serious?" Sasuke asked, raising one eyebrow in the way that only he could. "If I recall correctly, we all got completely smashed and couldn't even remember who did what with whom. Except Hinata, she didn't drink anything."

"Which is precisely why we need another one!" He said, throwing his heads in the air. "Wait, waitwaitwaitwait. Where's that chick you picked up last night?"

"Not with me." Sasuke muttered, starting to walk into the shop with Naruto following him.

"Just dropping her? Is there no end to the sleeping around?!" He questioned dramatically. "You need a real girl, one who you couldn't even think of leaving!"

Sasuke just made his way up to the front desk, taking out his wallet in the process.

"Like, someone who is so perfect and nice and everything! Kind of like Sakura, only you can't take her 'cause she's mine and if you _try,_ I will smack you."

He only had enough money for one. Well, one and a half.

"Sasuke, are you getting something for her?" Naruto asked, stopping his rant about finding a girl for him.

"A half-caf triple grande non-fat no foam Caramel Macchiato actually…"

Naruto's jaw fell open. "You remembered that? How?"

"I don't even know… I was barely listening." He mumbled, debating whether or not to get it for her. If he got himself a small maybe…

"Oh yeah, Mr. I'm-an-A-student-and-I-can-remember-anything-even-when-I-wasn't-paying-attention. But seriously though," He took out his own frog wallet. "Party, Ino's house, Tuesday, 8 o'clock, no parents and no picky college girls! How about it?"

"Maybe. One half-caf triple grande non-fat no foam Caramel Macchiato please." Sasuke said, finally deciding what he was going to do. He was honestly curious about that drink, what if it was good?

"And one small, normal coffee." Naruto piped up, slamming his bills on the counter.

When the drinks were done they went upstairs to the half open-air 2nd floor and sat down at one of the metal tables. Naruto ran his hand through his blond hair completely staring out at the clear sky. It really was a perfect day.

"I've got it!" He said suddenly, turning to face his companion. Sasuke was poking at his drink with a stirring straw, waiting for it to do something out of the ordinary. It was like a creature from another planet.

"I know your girl!"

"No, I don't think you do." Sasuke muttered, trying to head him off early before he went on another rant.

"Hear me out on this one. _Tenten_!!!" Naruto whisper-yelled. Tenten had been the captain and MPV of varsity softball, basketball and soccer last year and had brilliant collegial prospects.

Sasuke snorted. "No way. She's like an Amazon. And plus, I wouldn't want to get murdered by Neji…"

"You are so stubborn! Jeez, it's like I'm talking to a girl! Oh no…"

"Hn?"

"You're gay!" Naruto called, wide-eyed.

Sasuke paused in the middle of attempting to drink the frilly drink. That damn girl-drink wasn't exactly helping his case. "Dumbass."

"Then what is it?" He questioned, massaging the bridge of his nose. He was losing steam, giving up. "Teme, I'm your friend. I want to help you to stop breaking every girl's heart just on a fancy. Please help me help you."

"You really want to know?" Sasuke muttered his voice low. He suddenly took a deep drink of the half-caf triple grande non-fat no foam Caramel Macchiato, and was surprised at how good it was.

"I'm in love with you."

That shut him up. Naruto failed to move except blinking. He was not expecting that. It was only until Sasuke started laughing into his drink, blowing whipped cream everywhere did Naruto loosen up.

"Dude, I'm joking. You were just asking for it."

Naruto narrowed his eyes before relaxing them. "That was scary. Maybe you should pick up acting. WAIT, please don't find _another_ thing you're incredible at, forget that I said that."

"I'll come to your party, don't worry." Sasuke said, licking cream off the top of his lip. Suddenly an annoying jingle sounded from somewhere below the table.

It was Naruto's phone, but he was just sipping at his non-girly drink. It took 3 rings before he jumped. "Oh shit, that's mine!"

He stood up and began to fumble with the pocket of his jeans, reaching for his phone. "Hello? Sakura-chan, hey!"

Sasuke smirked at Naruto blushing as his love called.

"Naruto, I'm done calling people. I talked to Hinata and she said that she was going to call Neji and them." Sakura said through the phone. There was an odd sound in the background, like she was near an open window of a car.

"Thanks. Are you in a car Sakura-chan?"

"Uh huh. Kiba's. We're going to the beach 'cause Hinata's working on lifeguard duty.

He heard through the phone someone, undoubtedly Kiba saying something.

"Oh, and we're going because it's fucking hot out says Kiba. He just doesn't want anyone to know he's going just for Hinata."

Naruto smiled as he heard them start arguing. He was now leaning against the balcony, the wind catching his hair. Everyone knew that Kiba liked Hinata, except her. It was really the same as the fact that everyone knew HInata liked him except himself. Sasuke was back at the table but he now had his legs up on the table and was finishing off his drink.

_Hinata. That's it!_

He froze, holding the phone in his hand limply. Sakura and Kiba continued to bicker on the other line, not even noticing that Naruto was, for once, completely silent.

"Sakura-chan, SAKURA!" He finally spoke into the phone, getting excited at the plan formulating in his head.

"Eh, Naruto?"

"I'm with Sasuke and we're coming with you. Pick us up At Sasuke's place okay?"

"Uh, okay… You better be there when we get there though. We'll be there in a few minutes." Sakura said. "See you guys there."

She cancelled the call from her side, leaving Naruto with nothing.

This was _so_ going to work. Naruto could feel it.

"Oi, teme, we're going swimming!!!" Naruto called at Sasuke, flipping his phone closed and slipping it in his pocket.

"What?"

"Swimming, you know, at a beach!"

Sasuke frowned, removing his feet from the top of the table. "Why?"

"Because it's hot out!!'

"I don't like swimming…" He muttered, standing up and stretching.

Naruto groaned, walking quickly around to the table to face him. "I know you don't. But just please come with us!"

"Us?"

"Sakura and Kiba are going right now and they're picking us up at your place so you kind of have to go…"

"I don't have a suit for you Naruto…" Sasuke muttered tossing the cup in the trash. He knew he was going, but he wanted to string his gullible friend along.

"Shit, okokok, I'm going to run to my house quick and _then_ I'll meet you at yours ok? See you in a few!" Naruto muttered before vaulting over the table and running for the stairs.

He stood there, slightly perplexed. Peering over the balcony he saw Naruto run into the street in his haste to get to his house first.

Five minutes later he got back to his apartment and found that Hana was gone. _Good, I'm glad I didn't have to talk to her. _He thought bitterly, changing into his blue swimming trunks and slapping on some sun block. He was pale for a reason other than family genes. Skin cancer was something he did not want to get, and since he was a little bit of a health nut, sun block was a must.

Glancing at a book on his bedside table, he thought for a moment about bringing it. It was a library book, so he was a little antsy risking it at a beach. It was _Romeo and Juliet _by _William Shakespeare_. A playwright he had read before, but wanted to do another look through because it was essentially a masterpiece. Naruto might think that Sasuke aiming to major in English and minor in Literature was lame and "sissy", but he couldn't help who he was.

"Sasuke, if you bring that book I'm going to kill you."

He turned and saw Naruto in his doorway having opened it using the 'hidden' key under his floor mat. An uncreative spot, but a good one nonetheless.

"You go to the beach to _swim_." He continued, walking towards him and taking a seat on his kitchen counter.

"Nobody swims the whole time," Sasuke muttered, leaning over to grab it. "And why do you care?"

"Sasuke-hime," Naruto said authoritatively, putting a hand over his face as if ashamed. Sasuke glared at him for the mention of his _other_ pet name. "Sit down."

Sasuke sat, still mad about the princess name.

"Hyuga Hinata." He said, towering over him. "What about her?"

That did something. It was like a beam was inside of him and it just broke. His breath caught in his chest and his eyes widened. _Hinata…_

Hyuga Hinata, the girl that intrigued him beyond compare, the only girl who didn't like him. And because life had always been kind to Uchiha's, the only girl he truly liked was the only one who didn't like him.

"S-she's okay…" He mumbled, looking down. It was odd; the only thing standing in his way of getting her was the one person trying to help him get her. Cruel indeed.

A honk sounded from outside, causing Naruto to jump. "They're here! Trust me, Hinata's a good one, you'll love her."

_Don't I already?_

He reached for the towel that he put on his bed and the pair of them started out. Once down on the street they both hopped into the back of Kiba's open Jeep and he sped off, cranking up the radio as he and Sakura sang, terribly, to a song they liked. After a while Naruto joined in until he saw that Kiba had his shirt off and Sakura was paying attention to_him_. Maybe he would try that. So off the shirt went.

The beach was packed by the time they got there. Pulling off to park under a willow tree, Kiba jumped out, followed by Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke. Akamaru, Kiba's big white dog, had been in the back with them and jumped out, landing on the grass on the boulevard.

"HINATA!!!" Sakura called, waving her sunglasses in the air from the street. As she did, Naruto, smiling his fox-like grin, undid the bow that held her top on, causing her to catch it before it revealed anything.

Sasuke smirked at his friend's antics but his smile was dampened when he saw Hinata on the lifeguard chair. She was twisting to wave at them, her sunglasses on the top of her head. Like always, her gaze was on Naruto who hadn't even acknowledged her yet. _He is so thick._ Sasuke thought, shaking his head. _She probably didn't even notice me. _

But to his gleeful surprise, he looked up again to see her looking at him. It was more of a passing glance, but it was still a glance!

Until she realized that Naruto would never be with her, she wouldn't be able to see past her infatuation. As soon as she opened her eyes further, she'd realize what a good catch he himself was. Right?

As he distinctly saw Hinata blush at a little thing like Naruto without a shirt, he mentally hit himself for coming here. Naruto would be all that she saw, meanwhile Sakura would be all that Naruto saw and Sasuke would be all that Sakura saw. And just to put another layer of impossible to the whole thing, Hinata would be all that both himself and Kiba saw.

This was going to be a fun afternoon.


	3. A Consupicent Contigency

Thank you infinitely to all the people who found it in their hearts to send me a review and make me a favorite story and other happy stuff. It really makes my day when I have about 10 emails waiting for me, saying that my story is loved.

Dakara, domo arigatou gozaimasu! -bows-

Oh, and a disclaimer to the lovely Kishimoto Masashi, for being the brains behind the whole Naruto thing we love so much. It's not me and these aren't my characters, although I truly wish it was otherwise...

Anata wa ikkyou arimasu!

* * *

The plan was flawless. It was just the execution that would be riddled with problems. Operation: Naruto is amazing all relied on Hinata. She could make or break it. If he could get Sasuke to be with Hinata, he would be out of the picture to Sakura, giving himself a chance to swoop in. Provided that Sakura found that she liked him, and that Hinata would like Sasuke.

The more he thought about it, the more difficult it sounded. What if Hinata didn't like Sasuke? What if Sakura would still like Sasuke even if he were spoken for? What if Kiba _somehow_ got into the mix?

So, all that he could do now was to impress Sakura the most he could. But if Sasuke were in the water, Sakura wouldn't pay him any heed.

"Oi teme, just sit and read your book." Naruto muttered to Sasuke who shot him an indignant glare.

_He is such a hypocrite_. Sasuke thought, though not about to argue. He chanced a glance at Hinata who was talking to Sakura, both of them on the chair. Her hair was so pretty, he noticed, just catching any hint of wind and going with it.

Accidentally locking eyes with Sakura, he looked away quickly, not wanting to lead her on. Maybe Sakura's attraction for him was as fleeting and flighty as he hoped Hinata's was to Naruto. If it was just a little fancy of Hinata's, then perhaps he had a chance. And with Naruto pressuring him to pursue her, this was looking up for the first time since he started to become entranced by her. Naruto was actually on his team, for if Sasuke were taken, Sakura wouldn't be so smitten.

"Hinata, is that your car?" Sakura asked incredulously, looking over at the red convertible.

"Uh, yeah actually."

Sakura got starry eyed. "Oh my god, can I got for a ride in it sometime?"

Hinata chuckled lightly. "Watch out Sakura, or I'll start thinking you like me for my toys…"

"You know I don't, but Hinata! That thing is beautiful! The color though… did you pick that out for yourself? I wouldn't think bright red is exactly your color…"

"Otousan got it for me. I've had it for half a year actually. I was going to return it—"

"You were going to return that piece of love?" Sakura interjected, craning her neck to look at it.

"—and then I drove it and thought better of my decision. I didn't drive it to school because people would… you know…"

Sakura knew. She didn't need to say a word. Some people at school kissed up to Hinata and Neji to get to Hinata, because she was rich and kind. She wasn't stupid though, she knew her friends, the ones who would never try to swarm up to her for a personal gain other than having her for a friend.

They sat together in silence for a second, thinking about their separate thoughts.

"It's hot, you should get in the water…" Hinata mumbled, looking up at the sun.

Sakura had been getting hot. It was nice being off the scalding sand, but she wanted to cool down. "Why don't you come in too?"

"Because I can't. Someone might start drowning—"

"Alright then, how long are you working?"

Hinata stopped and thought for a moment. She just barely remembered that morning that she had a job; let alone when she would get off. "I…I think all day, until the beach closes…"

"Ugh, that sucks." She said, starting to climb down the tall chair. "Well, when you get a break come hang out with us…"

"Who else would I hang out with?"

As soon as Sakura reached the water's edge, Naruto intercepted her and grabbed her waist, lifting her off the ground. She screamed and kicked happily for him to let her down but he just draped her over his shoulder and proceeded to walk out into the water. After a few moments of "Do you dare me to?" from Naruto to Sakura's screams he dumped her in the water.

Laughing when Sakura popped back up Kiba snuck behind him and completely pantsed him right in Sakura's view. Hinata quickly blushed and covered her eyes, though sneaking a glimpse of his butt through her fingers.

Then came the coup de grace. Kiba _pushed Naruto over_, successfully knocking him off his feet and in that few moments of no balance, Kiba stole his trunks.

Sasuke, who hadn't been paying attention to anything, looked up as Kiba ran past him, getting sand everywhere. He took one look at Naruto cowering in the water, a red Sakura laughing her head off and then glanced at Hinata who was reaching for the megaphone that was always at the chair. It was pretty funny, he would admit.

"Kiba you asshole! Give 'em back!" Naruto shouted from where he was, going deeper and deeper in the water.

Kiba fell over from laughing so hard. He was still clutching Naruto's orange swimsuit. Now people were starting to notice and laugh at the naked blond.

The thing was that Hinata wasn't so sure what to do. She clicked the megaphone on and off repetitively, wondering what her next move should be. As a lifeguard she should stop it, but as a friend, she knew Kiba would give them back eventually. Finally she clicked it on and turned up the volume, flinching at what she had to do.

"Uh… s-sir?" she squeaked, trying to get Kiba's attention without revealing that she was chums with him.

Kiba turned around, grinning at her. "Eh?"

"Could you please give his trunks back? T-there's other people at his beach besides you, you know…"

"Yes ma'am…" He shouted, giving her a salute and tossing Naruto's beloved shorts back at him.

As he struggled to put them back on, Sakura ran into the water again, having previously vacated it because of the rated R-ness. She was teasing him completely and paid for it when Naruto started chasing her around, pants on.

_He likes her so much. There's no way. _Hinata thought sadly, bracing her elbow on her thigh and holding her chin in her hand. _No way he'll like me like that_. It wasn't fair. She fell into despair as Naruto full out tackled Sakura in the water, coming up with him completely holding on to her

* * *

As the day passed, it lost none of its brutal heat, causing Hinata to debate taking off the shirt. Naruto and Sakura were lying out on their towels resting while Sasuke continued to read his book. Kiba was tossing a stick out in the water for Akamaru to go for, laughing at how much fun his canine friend was having. It was at that time, seemingly when no one was paying attention to her, that Hinata was approached by a beach go-er. It was a cocky college boy who walked up to her from his group of other cocky college boys.

"Hey,"

Hinata, having zoned out from sheer boredom, jumped slightly at being addressed. She looked the culprit up and down quickly, taking in his tanned beach body and dark hair cut semi-short.

"H-Hello."

"I've never seen you around here, are you new to lifeguarding?" He asked politely, though something annoyed her about him. Maybe it was the fact that he interrupted her Naruto-themed fantasies. But just because he annoyed her didn't mean she failed to stutter.

"Y-yes," She was reduced to short, one word answers. She talked as little as possible when speaking to a person she didn't know.

"Well, you fit the part well." He was gutsy; she'd give him that. But he wasn't Naruto. "Me and my friends think you're hot, but I was the only one brave enough to come up to you."

"Thank you." Whoops, that was 2 words, whatever. She was always polite, only saying 'thanks' when she was with good friends.

"Do you want to go out with me tonight?"

"Uh… n-no thank you." She muttered, slightly scared now. Never was she just asked out randomly, usually it was Sakura or Ino who were lucky enough to catch the male eye. Or unlucky, depending on how you looked at it.

He pouted and leaned against the chair legs, implying that he wasn't leaving soon. "Aw, why not?"

"B-because I d-don't know you." She stated simply, trying to make him leave by being blunt. Then she moved her sunglasses to the top of her head and crossed her arms in front of her chest in an attempt to bodily settle the matter. Bad move on her part.

"Wow, you have really pretty eyes! I've never seen that color before, so pale…"

Hinata failed to respond to this. Couldn't he just leave?

"Well, it's settled, we're meant to be together!" He said, stretching in an attempt to show off. He was just as flirty as Kiba. _But not nearly as handsome_. She thought suddenly. It was true; this guy was just normal, grossly normal looking.

"H-how do you f-figure that?" Hinata was really uncomfortable now.

He just grinned. "Well, everybody has always told me that I have pretty eyes, so we _have_ to be together!"

She looked at him for the first time since he first talked to her. They were just brown, kind of plain and bland. Tenten's eyes were a warm brown, and Shikamaru's were a really intelligent brown, but this guy's were just blah.

"I'm sorry, b-but I don't think it's a good idea…" Now she was taking the nice way out instead of just saying, "Fuck off," like Ino would if she didn't like the guy.

"I'll pay, I'll even buy you something nice! Please, give a guy a chance. I'm Simon by the way…" Simon begged, still persistent.

Hinata was getting a little scared now. What if he didn't leave? "I don't kn-know you."

"And yet you're not giving yourself the chance to get to know me better! Please?"

Her insides were just screaming for her to just spit out "NO!" but she couldn't do that. She was just too nice. _I could always just go with him…_ she reasoned but thought better of it. That wouldn't get him to go at all.

Sasuke had been listening to the whole conversation from the start and he was starting to get angry. She turned him down, she was obviously scared and wanted him to go, but still he stayed! Such an asshole. It took all his self-control not to shout at the guy to leave her alone. _I've never shouted at someone ever, what is she doing to me?_ He asked himself rhetorically.

"N-n-no."

She was stuttering badly now, a sure sign that she was distressed and scared. For him just to leave her alone was all he wanted. But he was not going to leave unless something or someone made him.

"If you don't want to go out with me, we could just fool around you know… I'm open to that."

_Is he being serious?_Hinata inwardly moaned. That was all he wanted from her! Maybe it would just be easier to give in, but she knew she couldn't do that. She glanced quickly over at Sakura and Naruto who were now joining Kiba in playing with Akamaru and back to the ever-so annoying Simon who was grinning now.

"Is this guy bothering you Nata-chan?"

She turned quickly to see Sasuke climbing up the chair. _Nata-chan? What?_ Casually he took his seat next to her and snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her uncomfortably close.

"Who're you?" Simon asked, a flicker of anger crossing his features. He took a step back from the leg of the chair to look at him better.

"The boyfriend actually."

Hinata blushed insanely when Sasuke said that. At least someone came to her rescue! "Sasuke-kun!" she squeaked, catching onto the act quickly.

"So, you want to fool around with her, is that what I heard?" Sasuke asked coolly, pulling her more into his bare chest as he tried to get a better look at the perpetrator.

Simon turned his angry face smoothly into a sly grin. "Only when you're through with her I suppose."

Oh, he had some nerve. Sasuke had thought when he had initiated the Save Hinata plan that the guy would just back off but _no!_

"Do me a favor and fuck off."

Hinata was surprised by the venom in his voice and at the bluntness of the request. To her great surprise, Simon just left and rejoined his friends, shooting one glance back.

"T-they're leaving." She whispered, peaking in their direction to watch them packing up. "P-please don't leave j-just yet, I don't want them to c-come back…"

She said that for two reasons, and one of them was the one she said. But the other, less pure one was that she enjoyed his warmth. _And he smelled really nice._

"Hn," Sasuke just nodded, hoping she didn't notice his heart beating unhealthily fast.

But she did. "A-are you okay? You… your heart is going crazy."

He sweat-dropped, trying to hide the small blush that was collecting on his cheeks. Since when did he blush, ever? Despite having caught him, or rather his heart, she definitely failed to notice why he would be anxious around her.

"Do you want to some water?" She held up a bottle that was at the bottom of her chair by her feet. All he did was look down; casting his hair in front of his face to hide is oh-so obvious feelings.

"No, I'm fine. They're gone now…" he mumbled, retracting his arm speedily. He wanted to get away but at the same time was desperate to be by her. Even if she didn't know him or trust him well enough to quell her stutter…

_Why? Why does she still stutter around me?_ He asked himself, starting to climb down the chair. _Because I don't talk to her like Kiba and Sakura do…_ Now he was going bipolar! All because of her!

Sasuke was about halfway back to his spot when Hinata called after him. "S-Sasuke-san?"

Suddenly dreaming that she was calling him back to confess her new, budding love for him and that there was a hidden reason behind her calling only him by such a title, he was completely mistaken for she only muttered, "Thank you."

"No problem. I'm sure you'd do the same thing if I was getting attacked by an annoying college boy…" He muttered, facing her with his trademark smirk. The 'I'm cooler than you so be happy I'm talking to you' one.

She just smiled a real smile and put her sunglasses back on. It made his heart melt. That was how completely smitten he was.

* * *

It was 5ish when Hinata took a break. She noticed that Kiba and Naruto had driven somewhere, but had left their belongings, implying they were to be returning. Sakura could have been just relaxing or sleeping, she couldn't see well through the sunglasses. Sasuke was nearing the end of his book too, the part he liked the most.

Something about the fact that everything in the whole play up to the climax led beautifully to an explosion of realization made him love to read that part. The emotional catharsis was a good purge from the rising tide of angst and tragedy.

Humming a small tune to herself, Hinata walked over to them, but stopped about 5 feet away, noticing that Sakura was either unconscious or not in the mood to talk to her. Sasuke was the only one there. He looked absorbed in the book and she would have just sat down quietly had she not glimpsed the title.

"You're reading Romeo and Juliet?" She asked softly, standing next to him in the sand, smiling down. "I like that book."

He just grunted. "Hn,"_Since when does she fail to stutter when she talks to me? Maybe it's a one on one thing… or maybe it's the book! We have a shared interest!_

Pretending to read, Sasuke tried to figure out what was going on. It was probably that Sakura was out for the count and Naruto and Kiba was off getting food. So Hinata found she _had_ to talk to him. Or that's what he thought.

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet." She cooed softly, reciting from memory, as he wasn't on that page. That was a bold and daring move from her end, to start that whole part.

It was incredible how happy that made him. She was a Shakespeare lover obviously; otherwise she wouldn't have been able to recite that. He was impressed that she not only knew the classic "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" that everybody did, but also the last three lines of her little speech.

He even knew the next line without looking. "Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?"

Hinata giggled and sat down on the sand next to him, her dark curtain of hair flying about. "'Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, not arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without the title. Romeo, doff thy name, and for thy name, which is no part of thee, take all myself."

"I take thee at they word. Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized. Henceforth I never will be Romeo."

"You two are so_lame_!" Sakura called, taking off her sunglasses groggily as she stared at the pair of them.

Immediately Hinata let loose a little "Eep!" and blushed furiously where Sasuke just closed his book at glared at his friend.

"I mean, Sasuke-kun I get, 'cause he likes English, but Hinata, I have NO idea where that came from."

She started pushing the pads of her fingers together in her anxiety of being put on the spot, especially after being caught talking like that. "Um… I—"

"WHO WANTS CHICKEN?" Kiba called to them, drawing attention to the fact that he, Akamaru and Naruto had returned from their food-search. Naruto raised a huge box of chicken in the air as Kiba said that, grinning ear to ear.

Smiling vaguely at Kiba, Hinata deliberately looked anywhere but at Sasuke and Sakura, and since looking at Naruto would just be a no-no, Kiba was her ticket out.

"Alright guys, lets eat!" Naruto called, plopping down and dishing out the napkins to the girls and Sasuke. Hinata took a wing delicately, gasping lightly as her fingers brushed Naruto's in the handoff.

Noticing this, Sasuke frowned. _It'll take more than reciting Shakespeare to make her forget Naruto…_

It would indeed.


	4. A Diametric Derision

Ahem, note for the rabid readers: The ages are off. I'm sorry if that is something that you can't take and I know how you feel since I'm a little bit of a detail freak myself. I'm just going to do a run through here of what is off.

The Konoha 11 plus Sasuke are 17-18, in that senior year at high school timeframe. I_know_ that Neji, Tenten and Lee are supposed to be a year older than our beloved rookies, but in order to just minimize hassle they are all the same age.

Kankuro and Gaara are also in the 17-18 ranges, considering I ran into the same problem with Kankuro as with Neji and them. They are 2/3 of the Sabakyu siblings and went to Suna Prep, a private school in a neighboring school even though they live in the same village as the others.

Temari is a year above everybody, making her the only one who is a different age, that of 18-19.

There, done. Sorry, but it was going to eat at me if you lovely readers went through my story without knowing what I did. My life's goal as a perfectionist is to minimize all confusion that would have to do with anything I create. And if there is something you don't understand (heavens forbid, I know you're all smart) just ask away and I'll answer to the best of my ability.

So with that out of the way, I need to give credit to the real author that creates and really controls these characters, Kishimoto Masashi. -applause-

Oh, PS. I was watching the Fellowship of the Rings whilst I wrote this here chapters, and whoever can pick out the quote will get a kudos!

* * *

"Hyuga Hinata, you have a shit-load of explaining to do!"

That came as a huge shock to her.

"Come again?"

Sakura mock glared at Hinata, putting a hand on her little hip. "You know what I mean!"

They were outside of Hinata's car, with the owner fidgeting with her keys, looking for the right one. It was 8 and the beach was closed, although you can't physically close a beach, you can just take the lifeguards out of it.

"Cute keychain by the way, but _seriously_. Hinata, what's going on?" Sakura asked, getting into the passengers seat of the 2-seat car as she unlocked and started it; Hinata was already behind the wheel. She glanced at the Kyuubi charm as she tried to think about whatever Sakura was bantering on about.

"Uh…"

Sakura groaned. "You and Sasuke being all frivolous and saying your little Shakespeare bullshit!"

Glancing over her shoulder to watch for any oncoming cars, Hinata blushed. She should have known Sakura wanted to know what that was all about, she did like Sasuke after all. "I just said the line I knew. It wasn't my fault he kept it going."

"Oho!" Sakura laughed, fiddling around in her purse to find some chap stick. "Well, that's all fine and dandy, but what was the closeness of you guys on the chair? That's right, I saw that. Do you have any chap stick?"

"Yeah, in the glove compartment."

There were a few silent moments when Sakura applied the healing salve to her lips and Hinata turned out of the parking spot. "No seriously though… you guys were all over each other."

"Were we now? You want to know what really happened?" Hinata asked, smiling lightly despite her small blush. She pulled out of the spot quickly before another car could pass.

"Enlighten me."

"There was this guy who came up all macho and was like, 'You're hot, do you want to go out with me tonight?' and I said 'No,' but he wouldn't leave and then he kept begging and then he asked if I would just 'fool around' with him instead. So I was getting really—are you even listening?" Hinata, chancing a glance at her friend who was rubbing her finer over her lips to better spread the stuff.

"Just because I don't look like I'm paying rapt attention doesn't mean I'm not."

"Sorry. Ok, I was getting nervous and then Sasuke came to my rescue by pretending to be my boyfriend until they left! He even told the guy to 'Fuck off.' That's all it was, just a rescue."

"Oh, okay…" Sakura muttered, looking over at her friend and grinning.

But Hinata had a bone to pick with Sakura as well. "On that topic, you were completely flirting with Naruto again."

Sakura froze, realization dawning. "Oh! I'm sorry Hina. You flirt with my love; I'll flirt with yours! But seriously, I'll try to stop…"

"No, I'm not asking you to stop, I just want you to know so you can't deny it." She continued, glancing over her left shoulder as she made a lane change.

It really was an odd relationship between them. Hinata liked the man who liked Sakura and Sakura 'accidentally' flirts with him. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to our heroine, the man Sakura likes is the one who likes her, and she had just found herself in a situation where she was indeed flirting with him. Fun times for all!

Sakura tilted her head in confusion. "Deny what?"

"That you kind of maybe might be maybe starting to consider considering liking him maybe?"

"Nope. He's my friend. Well… I don't know." Sakura admitted, putting her forehead in her hand. "Maybe! It's just… weird, and especially after seeing his… thing. Gah! I'm scarred for life."

She was blushing like the setting sun now. Hinata smiled sadly, knowing that her friend was slowly but surely falling for the boy she had liked since middle school. And unlike Hinata's feelings, Sakura's would be returned.

It was like the world was ending, her world. It was different when he just liked Sakura because Hinata still had a chance. But if he were _with_ Sakura, it would be lost.

"It's not like you haven't seen that particular body part before…" Hinata responded lightly, biting her lip as she tried to cover her smile.

Her pink-haired friend shot her a short glare before shrugging it off. They were the kind of friends who teased each other. Often.

In the slightly, but not really awkward silence that followed, Hinata covered the majority of the distance to Sakura's humble abode. It was across town from where she herself lived, but she was always happy to give rides to people.

"Ino's party, who's invited?"

Sakura, who had been dazing out the window, came back to the conversation. "Eh? Oh, everybody who was at the last one, but we added a few. Remember how we left out the Sabakyu siblings last time because technically it was a graduation party and they didn't go to our school? We've invited them this time."

"That should please Shikamaru…" Hinata said, smiling as she thought about it. Sabakyu Temari was older, but her brothers were the same age as the graduating class of Konoha High. Their resident lazy genius had taken a liking to the eldest and only female of the siblings last year when he was a junior and she a senior at Suna Prep.

"Do you know what?" Sakura asked, turning in her seat to face Hinata with the air of one getting down to something serious. "They are the _only_ ones right now that have a thing going on. Everybody else but them—single as can be. I'm jealous."

Hinata only nodded, not knowing quite what to say about that. She had never had the pleasure of being in a relationship, ever. A few people had asked her on a date, but she always turned them down.

Now with random people coming up to her and asking her out, it was taking her time to get used to the whole dating scene. She was also out of the drug scene and the drinking scene. Such a pure little heiress the Hyugas were graced with.

It wasn't as though she was completely against getting drunk; actually she wanted to try it. But she always wanted everybody she cared about to be safe, which meant she usually couldn't kick back and take a few shots. Who else would be there to make sure they didn't do something stupid?

"Eh, Hinata? What… how exactly would you kill me if I maybe got together with Naruto?" Sakura asked, trying to avoid making eye contact. That was a touchy subject.

Hinata had thought about that as well. What if it happened? Where would that leave her? One thing she knew was that she valued friendship well above love interest. There would certainly be no loss of their friendship that was for damn sure.

Despite making that promise to herself, the fact still remained that Hinata would be depressed as all hell.

"What about Sasuke?"

"I… I'm not so sure. I still like him I know. But I think something just opened up my eyes, made me see farther. There's more men out there than Sasuke and even though he's a fucking sex god, the fact still remains that Naruto…"

She traipsed into silence, caught in her thoughts. "And then there's Kiba! I was riding in the car with him and we like all of the same music and he's really attractive actually. Do you see how sweet he is with his dog? It's just wonderful!"

"Yeah, I've been good friends with him forever. I know all that stuff." Hinata mumbled, finally reaching the street where Sakura lived.

"I just don't know. I've spent all my time going after Sasuke-kun that I almost missed all the amazing guys we take for granted."

Their stood upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it would fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while the company is true.

* * *

One big difference between males and females, apart from anatomy, was how they socialized with their own gender. For example, Hinata and Sakura talked about love and even got deep enough to realize their own romantic shortcomings. Almost the opposite was Kiba, Naruto and Sasuke, at the moment talking about the latest happenings in sports. In soccer to be exact.

Well, Kiba and Naruto talked, Sasuke was being his usual stoic self.

"Man, I thought he was so going to fuck it up because he got really cocky with the ball." Naruto ranted, hanging his hand out of the window as they drove away from the beach. "But there he went, dodging around everyone and then making that _unbelievable_ shot at the goal, slipping right through the keeper's hands! It was incredible!"

Kiba nodded. "That was such an intense game, it made me want to start playing again. Senior year varsity was so fun."

Kiba, Sasuke and Naruto had all been on the school's varsity soccer team for their senior year with Sasuke as captain and Kiba as co-captain.

"We should get a bunch of people together and have a little scrimmage."

The pair sitting in the front seats were surprised to here Sasuke speak from the back as he had been quiet the whole ride.

"Yeah! Like boys versus girls or something…" Naruto exclaimed loudly, gaining a grunt of approval from Kiba.

Suddenly, it looked as if Naruto was struck by lightening as he jumped and gasped randomly. Kiba, having kept his eyes on the road, failed to see him shoot a grin at the man taking up space in the back.

"Oi Kiba… what's up with Hinata?"

_Aha, he's trying to do me a favor…_ Sasuke noticed, though genuinely curious as to where Naruto was going with that.

"What do you mean?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know it just seems like she's changed. Now that I realize that, I see that I don't know her at all. What's she like, you know, when she's with you and Sakura?"

_I've wanted to know that for about 2 years!_

Kiba laughed in spite of himself. "Hinata-hime is the single most caring individual, and she holds a position of power and influence, which makes it more special. She's the girl who wouldn't swat away a fly for fear of hurting its feelings. Even if that fly were carrying a loaded machine gun with an aim to kill, she wouldn't hurt it."

_Well, I assumed as much._

"Putting the obvious aside, she may possibly the most politely funny people I have every been with. She always knows when to bring up an embarrassing memory for it to have the greatest effect. But she does it all with almost aggravating niceness. She puts literal meaning to 'kill with kindness.'"

He thought to himself for a moment before letting out a laugh. "Oh, and she sings. Like an angel mind you. I was looking for her after school last year and I found her in one of those rooms that nobody uses, just singing, with some sheet music in front of her. Then I popped in and she freaked out and went really modest. She even said 'You didn't hear that, did you?' It was so cute!"

_She sings too? Honestly, where's her imperfection?_

"And then there was that one time where I convinced her to play strip poker with me, Shino and Shikamaru and she completely _destroyed _us. She counts cards like a pro. A really odd talent to find in her…"

_Pretty, kind, smart,_and_ a poker queen?_

"And as a plus," Naruto chimed in, "she's completely loaded."

_Naruto, you are so tactless._

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter with her. You wouldn't know if it wasn't common knowledge. The only times I notice it are when she gives 100 dollars to someone on the street, and at that point I'm so ashamed at my lack of doing something like that." Kiba laughed. "But why on earth do you want to know?"

_It'll make her year if she knew Naruto was asking about her for himself. _Kiba thought quickly, glancing over at his blond friend. There was no trace of a blush, so maybe it wasn't what he thought.

In the back was a different story. Sasuke's cheeks had a definite tinge to them, invisible in the night and the dark car. _Why the hell am I blushing? I don't blush! She isn't even here!_

"Oh, someone was asking about her…" Naruto answered, truthfully not being the one interested. "Asking if it was true if she was as selfless as they say."

"Hn," Kiba muttered. He was a crossroads, go with lust or friendship. She had an incredible body and was a really awesome person, and he admittedly had a thing for her. It wasn't love, but it was lust. In that state of mind, he didn't want to abide by her happiness and say something good to Naruto about her. But then, he was always first and foremost a good friend.

"You know, she is a really good catch. There is so much more to her than you first see."

Of course, goodness prevailed. It always did when Naruto was there.

_Yeah, she is a good catch; it's just the catching of her that sucks. _Sasuke thought bitterly.

Hmm… It seems that males and females aren't as different than what was originally thought. Maybe it was the summer heat, but love was certainly lingering in everyone's mind.

Kiba, after being silent for a few moments, laughed out loud. "I'm going to try to convince her to drink at the party. You know, to let her actually have fun instead of looking out for all of us."

"This is me." Sasuke called as Kiba went right past his building. He skidded to a halt and backed up a bit to end up right in front of the front door.

"I've never said this, but good job getting a place. This is some high class shit going on…"

All three of them looked up at the building. That was damn true. Kiba's thought received no response from Sasuke, who just grabbed his stuff and jumped off, throwing back a little wave.

Once in the building he let loose the tremendous sigh he was holding.

"A lot on your mind Sasuke-san?"

He turned to see the friendly mailman Hiro at the mailboxes. "You have no idea."

"Ah, this old mailman has had his fair share of longing sighs. Pretty girl, is she?" He asked, smiling his crooked grin.

The time to be bold had come. "Most beautiful in the world. Did I get any mail?"

"Of course, I would expect nothing less from you, Sasuke-san. Yes, you got four college letters, acceptance I hope. Rather convenient for them all to come at once. Is she a sweet one?"

Sasuke smirked. "She wouldn't hurt a fly." _Even if that fly were carrying a loaded machine gun with an aim to kill._

"That's good. Hopefully better than the usual trash you bring in."

"Infinitely better. Thank you, Hiro-san." He said, taking the letters with a small bow. On his way back up to his room he looked through them. There was his 3rd choice, 2nd choice and some random one he hadn't even applied to. At the bottom was the 1st choice, the only one he cared about.

_Uchiha Sasuke, _

_You have caught our eye here, and we are happy to say you are accepted._

That was all he needed to see. It was obvious the he was going to get in and he had applied with absolutely no doubts. The college had the reputation of being one of the best schools in the world, especially for journalism, law and psychology. They were the simply the greatest. And plus, they had a good soccer team!

Put into a state of bliss, he entered his flat and walked straight to the big, sliding glass window overlooking the city. Looking out he smiled a true smile, a rarity for him. At least _something _was going right.

* * *

Hinata stared again and again at one word in particular. _Accepted._ It empowered her, sending her to a nirvana she had never experienced before. _Accepted._ Accepted to her first choice college, and the least likely one for her to get into. She was not at all expecting it. It was literally a bolt from the blue.

At the same time of her happiness, her world came crashing down. _How am I going to tell father?_ She was supposed to inherit the family business, becoming CEO. She wasn't even supposed to _go_ to a college other than the one her father had picked out for her. The one for business. Ew.

How was she going to tell him? She hadn't even been accepted to the business one! Instead she got into her dream school. Her father was going to have a piss fit. It really should have been the other way around!

"Hinata, what's wrong?"

She was standing in one of the kitchens with the letter lying out on the island in the middle. Neji walked in to grab something out of the fridge and saw her from behind, her shoulders hunched and her whole body shaking.

"Hinata?" He approached her, using the whole foot he had on her to peer over her head. With a sudden intake of breath he looked at the letter of acceptance for the one he knew she wanted and the letter of denial of the one her father wanted. He knew what was wrong.

"Shit, Hinata…"

She just cried, trying not to make any noise. For the first time in her life, everything was all wrong.

* * *

**Alright, who found the quote?**

**I'm sure _someone_ else reading this one is capable of quoting each and every line from those movies like me...**


	5. An Exorbitantly Excrutiating Entree

**I have gotten my first job! SHANNARO! I'm going to be a buss-girl at a high-end restaurant! Eventually I will make my way up to waitress-ing during lunch and breakfast, since dinner is a no-no considering the _massive_ alcohol orderage.**

**So, in honor of this incredible event, my first real job, I have dedicated this next chapter to it. Well, the setting is a restaurant, so there!**

**Disclaimer: I am not talented enough to create a masterpiece such as Naruto. I hereby announce that everything I write is completely not true and does not truly inflict upon the lives of these fictional characters. Considering that this is an alternate universe fic, I would expect you guys to know that anyway…**

**Damn it, enough of this legality shit! Forget about your homework, nuke a bag of popcorn and settle in for this one… it's rather long.**

* * *

"May I take your orders, ladies?" Sasuke asked, playing up the charm tenfold. He was working, for now, at one of the popular bistros. 

The three girls giggled, casting him their eye. Their _heavily _made-up eyes…_Hinata doesn't need make-up to be beautiful, unlike these creeps. _He thought, though thankfully it didn't show on his face. _Well, one of them looks okay…_

"Oh, I don't know…" One of them, apparently the leader, said pseudo-coyly. "What would you recommend?"

The two cronies all giggled at their leader's audacity. He just smiled a fake smile, crossing his hands in front of his chest as he sat in mock thought. "Well, it all depends on what you like…"

He truly was the epitome of handsome in the uniform. It was a black, long-sleeved button down tucked into a pair of neat dress pants. He amped it all up with rolling up his sleeves to his elbows and unbuttoning the first two buttons for that 'I'm not trying, but I'm still handsome' look. There was no denying that he was _fine_. 

"How about you get me _your _favorite thing…" She said seductively, or as seductively as someone her age could. Sasuke reckoned the girls to be freshmen in high school, maybe possibly sophomores.

"Alright, fish brain soufflé for you then…" 

She looked appalled, causing her friends to shriek with delight. "You," Sasuke called, turning his attention to the lankiest one. "I'd say a nice salad, perhaps our oriental?"

She nodded, smiling as she blushed. Then he turned his gaze to the last girl, the smaller one. She was the one who was actually pretty with her glasses and all. "And for you milady, I think a nice slice of our homemade apple pie. No cute girl like you should be afraid to indulge. Guys go for women with_ curves_."

The girl smiled and nodded at his choice, biting her lip as she looked at him. 

"So Miss Fish-brain, do you still want to get what I like, or do you want me to pick for you like I did for your pretty friends?" He asked, leaning against the wall. They were outside, in an enclosed section by the sidewalk.

She blushed with embarrassment, but managed to laugh it off. He was just too attractive for her to get worked up over him quietly making fun of her, and he_ knew_ that. He often worked that to his advantage.

"Well… hey what's your name?" She asked, fluttering her eyelashes indiscreetly. That was such an act; she was going for the 'I don't know who you are so pay attention to me' flirtation.

"Sasuke,"

They all gasped. Yeah, they were going into sophomore year to have reacted like that. Obviously they were of the year of girls who always looked down and blushed whenever he passed them, and now he was actually _talking_ to them! It was too good to be true. 

"Well… Sasuke…" She said, grinning from ear to ear. "What do you believe would suit my tastes, because you've got my friends spot on."

He thought for a moment, looking her up and down. "A spicy chicken quesadilla perhaps? You look feisty enough for it…"

"I'll take that!" She said, her voice going up an octave.

"Alright my dears, your orders will be out soon, try not to forget me when I'm gone." Oh, they wouldn't. He could have bet that the second he was out of earshot they would collapse in fits of swooning and call up their friends to brag. Uchiha Sasuke 'flirted' with them, that makes them _so_ cool!

In the fifteen minutes it took for all their orders to be ready, he hid in the kitchen, dreading when the time came for him to go back out there and resume his act. First done was the salad, followed closely by the quesadilla and the pie. Mentally cursing himself for what he was about to do, he glided himself over to their table, carrying their food. 

"Enjoy your food ladies." He cooed, laying down the dishes neatly in front of the respective person. They all giggled and turned red except the bold leader. 

_Brats didn't even say thanks_. Sasuke mulled, filling up their glasses of water. 

"A-arigatou gozaimasu." The prettiest, spectacled one said lightly, smiling at him. 

_Or not. _He simply fake-grinned back, shooting her a little wink before turning around and going back into the restaurant to tend to other customers.

Why did he do that? Why did he act kind and funny and irresistible? Because it got him 50 tips, especially from the rich younger girls who didn't know how to hold on to money. These particular girls had given him a 60 tip, which was actually ridiculous. Who made more money on tips than from paycheck? Uchiha Sasuke. 

"You are such a little fake."

Sasuke turned around to see Kiba sitting at one of the tables that was the most far away from any other one. He was surprised to have not seen him before.

"It gets the bills paid."

Kiba smirked, stretching back in his chair. It was then that Sasuke noticed that there were two glasses of water, meaning he was with someone. "How so?"

"60 tip."

His co-captain started laughing at him. "Maybe they accidentally double tipped."

Our resident waiter decided to screw working for the time being and sit down at the 3rd seat occupying the table. "That's what I thought when it first started happening, but _no_. It's always from girls and most of the times a number is left."

"Oh, you poor guy. That must be so tough on your porcelain features, having to—" He gasped dramatically. "—Actually smile!"

Sasuke glared; a little embarrassed that someone had caught him in his act. "Who're you here with?"

Kiba just yawned, not answering to the Uchiha's discontent. 

"Konnichiwa, Sasuke-san."

That voice. The voice of pure beauty and grace. The voice that had the power to make him try after her although he knew it would be in vain. _Hinata_.

He turned his head to see her standing there staring at him. Her hair was in a ponytail today, which he liked a lot. It showed her pretty face more. 

"Hn,"

"D-do you work here? I never knew." She commented lightly, sitting back down into her seat. As she leaned forward, Sasuke caught a glimpse down her shirt. A low move, but it was just asking to be looked down.

"Hai. Have you guys been served yet?" Sasuke asked, standing up from his seat and taking up the waiter role. They both shook their heads. "Alright then, what is it you would like?"

Something was a little off it seemed. Hinata was looking as sad as he had ever seen her before. It was rather eerie. She had a little tinge to her cheeks. 

"We're here for some comfort food actually." Kiba stated, shooting a glance at the pink Hinata as he spoke. 

Normally he wouldn't pry, but this was his good friend and his love interest, and it had to do with one of them! Most likely it was the former, seeing as she was looking so depressed. 

"Mind if I ask why?" Sasuke asked, trying not to sound too eager. 

Kiba frowned but, to his delight, Hinata smiled a weak smile. "It's nothing you need to worry about."

"Well, now I'm worrying since you said that."

_Holy shit, I'm actually talking to her. _

She looked reluctant but then locked her light eyes with his dark ones. Trying to convey the feelings of trust and friendliness through the black abyss that was his eyes was like trying to make a kitten not cute. It was just impossible. That didn't stop him from trying though.

Hinata just stared at him for a moment longer than perhaps she would have. She could definitely detect something more than his usual passive stoicism. _It's like he's trying to make me read him._ She realized, beginning to see more. 

As a person aiming to major in psychology, Hinata could read expressions and emotions well, but with the obvious exception of feelings directed at her. Anything that someone wanted to keep a secret from her she could not glean from his or her actions, but anything else was picked up. So, if you wanted to keep a secret from her, you were screwed. But only a secret about someone else, not herself. 

Suddenly very trusting, Hinata decided to spill. "I got into the college I wanted to… but not the one my father wanted me to."

Sasuke just stared at her for a minute, trying to figure out what was wrong with that. "Such a crime."

"Your sarcasm is not necessary." Kiba snapped, suddenly protective of his friend. 

Hinata sighed at his bluntness before continuing in a soft voice. "He… Father made me swear not to apply to any other one, saying that the business one was the only one that I need to eventually take over the company."

_Asshole._

"Hn,"

What more could he say that that? _"Well, your father is a dumbass." _or _"Just go to the one you want." _wouldn't work with her. She was the person who cared more for others, the girl who couldn't bear to see anyone disappointed at all, let alone in herself.

"Well, is it a matter of embarrassment or self-esteem?"

She dropped her head. "Neither. I can't—"

_She's confiding in me… _

"Well, it has to be one or the other, since it's your life and those are the only two possible reasons for you to be sad if it really is your own life."

Kiba stared at him quickly. It was weird to see him talk like this. Slowly raising her head, Hinata looked at him sadly. "It hasn't been _my life_ since I was born. I've been trained all through my life to be a working member of society, for the good of the family…"

Both the men could see what was going to happen. She had been getting quieter and quieter as she spoke, finally ending in a whisper. Her eyes were welling up, tears threatening to fall and then it would all start over again. The crying, the headaches, the guilt, it was just an endless cycle for her right now.

"I don't even know why I'm crying." She whispered, reaching for a glass of water. 

This was bad. _Someone so beautiful should not have to be sad._ He thought, frowning a little. There was an odd silence that followed that. Something needed to be done to make her happy again, and both Kiba and Sasuke thought so. 

"What kind of comfort food are you into Hinata?"

She turned bright red once he said this. Kiba was obviously interested as well as he leaned forward in his chair. "I… well, I…"

"Yes?"

There was a brief pause where she debated spilling or not. "Usually... I go for spicy things."

That came as a huge shock to both of them. Hyuga Hinata, liking spicy foods? All they needed was for Kiba to announce he actually was a cat person and Sasuke to laugh, and then the apocalypse would come.

"Uh, okay. We have a few spicy things…" Sasuke said, still completely blindsided by the bizarre request. He was blanking out now. 

Hinata smiled a weak smile. "What is the spiciest thing you have?"

He thought for a moment before recommended something off the menu that did not have a mild ingredient in it. She nodded as he said it, but bit her lip. 

"Is there any way to make it hotter?"

It was so weird for a girl with such a soft voice to ask to make something hotter. Just weird. "Hotter than that? Are you sure?"

"Hai, no offence, but I've had hotter."

_Is she joking? That thing makes people puke and cry at the same time. _

"None taken."

He made a mental note to himself that whatever he could do to make that dish hotter, he would. Even if it were running to some foreign island to pick some forbiddingly hot peppers, he would do it. 

"Okay then, Kiba, what about you?"

Kiba, having been staring at his friend vaguely shook his head to clear it. "I'm fine thanks."

"Once again I have to ask. Are you sure you want to do this?" His attention was on Hinata now, raising one eyebrow higher than another.

Hinata smiled a weak smile and nodded. "I'm not as fragile as I look, Sasuke-kun."

It was as if a dimensional rift had opened, creating a massive black hole that completely destroyed all life in a fraction of a second. An exponential decay of the universe starting from the very corners of pure imagination and imploding as it made it's way to the inner reaches of Sasuke's mind, targeting the impossible. Everything was gone.

_She called me by a pet name. _

Then in an instant, the time-space continuum reversed in its gravitational distortion, turning back the clock. The 'impossible' that had been imploded upon exploded into 'hope' and 'spirit', stretching back to the corners of what we know as the universe, rewriting what had been the destruction left from the path of that simple name. _Sasuke-kun._

_Nothing is impossible._ He thought, mildly channeling his blond friend. _There is still hope. This is not a lost cause after all!_

Kiba and Hinata had seen nothing of the massive shift from impossible to possible going on in Sasuke's mind. If one were to really get down into it, they would find that his heart slowed to a dangerous speed and that his fingers went slightly numb. _What is she doing to me? I've heard girls use that name thousands of times before now! I can't believe I'm freaking out like this!_

That simple friendly suffix had changed his world. He had gone from someone shying away from the impossible to be a man filled with hope and a newfound spirit. She recognized him not as a stranger, but as a friend. _A friend_.

Nodding to them lightly, he took his leave, heading straight for the kitchen without taking any more orders from his section. He was now a man on a mission.

* * *

"We need to make the Shinigami Akane."

The head chef looked up from the morsels he was stirring to stare at his usually quiet waiter. There was something different about him; he was rather desperate looking, as if everything depended on this dish. "Okay, someone hasn't been brave enough in a while…"

Now the whole kitchen was listening in. Sasuke took no notice, he only knew he _had_ to do this. In his mind, giving Hinata exactly what she wanted might make her see him a little more. It was a _hope, _that new thing he had rarely experienced. 

After his whole family was viciously murdered and his brother ran off without a trace, Sasuke lost touch with people, even emotions. He saw it in this girl what he saw in himself, the loneliness and the despair. But instead of retreating into herself like Sasuke did, Hinata opened up. She gave to the people, did everything she could to make up for her own sadness. Her theory was that if she could make as many people happy as possible, her heavy-heart would be lightened simply by the smiles.

Her father hated everything she did, her family resented her for being chosen heir to the family estate, and she was constantly sought after for betrothals. Not to mention that her Hyuga name was slowly quashing out every aspect of individuality she had left in her. It was similar and different to the situation of the Uchiha's.

Unknown to anyone else except the people sharing the despair, the beauteous, kind heiress of a dynasty was hurting. Hurting a little more each day. That was one of the things he found so incredible about her, that nobody else really knew.

"But… there is a request to…"

All the wonderful chefs in the place were gathered around, watching him struggle. He was looking at the ground, his face shadowed by his hair. They were all completely curious now.

"…Make it hotter."

They all gasped, someone even screamed. A chorus of things like: "You've got to be kidding me!" and "No way!" followed what he had said.

Sasuke looked up suddenly, an odd fire burning in his eyes. "I asked if she was sure, _twice_. She just insisted."

The co-head chef turned to his superior. "Is that even possible?"

A short, bushy-mustached man with his eyes invisible below incomprehensibly fluffy eyebrows, the head chef crossed his arms over his chest in thought. "Hmm… perhaps. Let me check the stores…"

The _Shinigami Akane_, more English-ly known as the Bright Red Death God, was not a laughing matter. It was a form of curry with every spicy and hot ingredient that could be non-hazardous for humans with giant chunks of the hottest legally traded pepper, complete with seeds mixed in. The rice it drowned was mixed with the hottest hot sauce known to merchants.

It brought a quick and speedy death to your taste buds as efficiently as a Death God giving rest to a soul, hence the name.

The groundwork for the dish of lava was to be made by the co-head chef, who wore goggles and oven-mitts as he added ingredients. If you got this in your eyes, you would most likely go blind, but no one had tested it. Just to be safe, you had to stop your skin from touching it once it was done, thus the need for gloves. With the dish finally done, Sasuke hovering anxiously and observing the masterpiece being made, it was a screaming orange color with bright red chunks. It really was beautiful, with the tinted red rice and the glowing red-orange curry. 

Then the head chef came back, holding a small vial of unknown material delicately. Everybody froze, watching him walk over to the dish and gently uncork the tube. As he did so, a small tuft of black haze drifted up. 

With the grace of a dancer finishing his last move, he threw the entire contents of the vial onto the top of the curry. This was his art, and he was indeed the master of it. Behind there was that superhero background that always happens when they use a special move. He even ended the whole routine with a chef-like pose, complete with holding a knife and a ladle across his chest like an 'X'. The whole kitchen just blinked in shock for a bit before slowly looking down upon his creation. 

What appeared to be black glitter now lay on the top, shining as the light caught it from different directions. That plate deemed to radiate pure death. Glittering red and black death.

"Oi, what is it?"

The chef sighed, staring at the dish sadly. "I recommend you don't ask. Some things are not meant to be known. The fact is it's gone now, and no one need ever speak of it again."

* * *

It was reminiscent of a funeral march as Sasuke walked towards his quarry, screwing up his face as he smelled the plate. It was making his eyes water just carrying it. In his other hand he held a piece of paper and a pen. The consent form necessary to sign in order to eat the dish. It ensured that the signer could not sue the restaurant for any injuries gained from consumption.

"I need you to sign this form, saying that you will not sue us." Sasuke mumbled, laying the paper in front of her with the pen below it. The dish was set in the middle of the table and he sat down in the extra chair. He just_ had_ to see her eat that plate of death. 

Hinata cocked her head slightly as she read it over, smiling as certain points of it. It took a few moments before she neatly signed in flowing cursive. _Even her handwriting is flawless…_

"H-hinata, I don't think you should eat that." Kiba said warily, nervously staring at the screaming curry. He was biting his nails anxiously, watching his friend sign away her life. 

Sasuke, sitting across from her, stared at her every move. He had his arms crossed across his chest and was leaning back in his chair, attempting to predict the outcome in that genius brain of his. _She's not going to live._

"You're just like Sasuke-kun," Sasuke's heart skipped a beat. "I'm not some little helpless priss! People should stop treating me like I'm going to break in one second!"

Another weird sentence to come out of her mouth: "I'm not some little helpless priss!" She must have really been distressed. It took her but a second to pull the dish towards her and ladle up a big spoonful, in which time both men at the table took a deep breath. 

Sasuke wondered vaguely about the black powder put on the top of the food by the head chef. What was so terrible that he couldn't even say the name of the ingredient?

Suddenly he feared for her life. It took all the strength he had not to reach across the table and knock spoon out of her hand. A mounting tension accumulated in the time where she brought the spoon to her mouth. Time slowed and both Kiba and Sasuke could hear their hearts beat painfully hard. She was committing suicide. The black glittery mystery ingredient glistened on top of the bite, almost asking to be consumed, asking to _kill_.

_What if it's poison?_ Sasuke quickly thought. That head chef was a shady guy; you could never see his eyes, making him suspicious. What if he was on the run from the law and disguised himself as a chef? It made sense, to hide yourself as a high class chef and then to kill innocent people with unknown poisons. People would never suspect you to be the one who purposefully added an ingredient. The whole thing could easily blow over as mistake. 

Then there was the co-head chef! He always had those shifty eyes, glancing around at everyone. The more he thought about it, the more certain it seemed to be true. The chefs in the kitchen were bad people, people who killed secretively. Basically they were secret serial killers, waiting to prey off of pretty girls who just wanted some comfort food...

He was two seconds away from swiping the plate off the table when she _put the spoon in her mouth_. 

The world stopped. A few kitchen workers including the head-chef were huddled just inside the building, peering at the scene unfolding. One of them put their hands over their mouth in horror when she actually put in her mouth. 

Chew. Chew. Swallow. A trickle of sweat had rolled down Kiba's face. Hinata closed her eyes, a small tinge of pink collecting on her cheeks. "It's good!"

They all let out their breath at once. _Maybe it's a slow killer…_He worried suddenly, looking for any display of pain. 

Kiba, feeling his masculinity had been a little tarnished by her not even flinching by the hot dish, tipped his little finger in the sauce and licked it. 

"GAH!" It was as if someone had punched him in the stomach, he recoiled so viciously. His face turned a sickly purple color and his eyes went red. Reaching for a glass of water, he downed it in two seconds flat. It took Kiba about a minute before he cooled down enough to form together a coherent sentence. "-gasp-How… the **fuck**-gasp-did you eat a bite of that?"

Hinata, in all her cuteness, blushed before looking down. _Why does she always think that she did something wrong?_ Sasuke asked himself before realizing. _Her father, right. He's a complete asshole… _

"I… I don't know…" She smiled, taking another bite. 

Bite after bite followed until her plate was cleared. Sasuke, said nothing the entire time, but watched her for any sign of imminent death. 

"What're you staring at?" Kiba snapped, his pride completely shot by Hinata's apparent immunity to spice. Now he was in a prissy mood. Sasuke just shifted his stony gaze to his co-captain, accompanied with a slight raise of one eyebrow. 

"Forgive me, but I just saw my friend eat a plate of death. I can't help it if I'm making sure she lives."

Hinata, to Sasuke's immeasurable joy, laughed her cute laugh. "Ah, Sasuke-kun, thank you for your concern, but I assure you I'm fine."

_Sasuke-kun._ It just sounded good when she said it. It sounded like what that name was supposed to sound like. Very different from all the fan-girls screaming it at the top of their lungs.

The fact remained that he was indeed staring and had been for a bit too long. Because of this he stood, running a hand through his hair for no reason whatsoever. "Congratulations Hinata, you lived through the _Shinigami Akane_ with flying colors. I'll be returning with your bill…"

_Should I do it? I can't though; it's just youthful high spirits driving me to do that. It's a completely stupid thing to do anyway! _He thought quickly. _Oh, fuck this. I'm going to do it._

Right before turning his back to head back in, he winked at her. A wink, a fully fledged, half-blink aimed at the girl who he just found more reasons to love 

What was more amazing was that she blushed a little bit in response.

* * *

Of all the things human beings are capable of expressing in this world, love was by far the more unexplainable and the most powerful. Love caused people to die for one another, to risk everything just to see that one person smile. When you feel that surge from deep within yourself to protect that one love, both reason and madness fall away, unable to compete with that burning emotion. 

Love is the reason that human beings flourish. Without love, for whom would we be making the world a better place for? Without the concept of love, why would people even live? Humans cannot be destroyed while we can still feel love. Even if one dies, there will be someone who feels the painful mourning as a result of it. A transfer of love, you could say.

And today, we find this little thing called _love_ seeping through the veins of one originally thought to be cold and heartless.

To put it bluntly, Sasuke had thrown himself into the ranks of people Hinata seemed to trust. They had gone from acquaintances to friends in a short amount of time. It was enough of a change that spawned a small hope. The hope that maybe, just maybe, a seemingly unrequited love would turn around.

* * *

**Scenes from the next:**

**"Why do I need blush when I'm never _not _blushing?"**

**"Stop? Stop what, being irresistible?"**


	6. Fervid Fortuity

**Rewriting this a little. Just making outfits different and grammar, you know, CORRECT. Plus… well… yeah. Nothing big is changing. **

**Get it.**

* * *

_"HINA! HELP!"_

Hinata held the phone about a foot from her ear as her friend screamed bloody murder. "Ino… Ino! Calm down! What's going on?"

_"THE PARTY, THAT"S WHAT'S FUCKING GOING ON!"_

Relieved, Hinata let out a breath of air. "What's wrong? And please don't scream…"

_"I need your help!"_

_At least she stopped screaming…_ Hinata thought as she warily brought the phone back to her ear. Now it was time to continue painting her nails, as she was doing before Ino called. Holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder, she finished painting with a flourish.

_"I need you to help me buy things for the party. Naruto fucking bailed on me!"_ Ino complained loudly.

Sighing lightly, Hinata relaxed on the living room couch, looking out of the window upside down as she stretched her neck. _Naruto really is a slacker, isn't he? _It was a sort of 'blah' day, with nothing really interesting about the weather except for the fact that it was devoid of anything interesting.

"Okay… when do you want me over there?"

Ino screamed into the phone again, causing Hinata to wince painfully. _"THANK YOU HINATA!"_

"Yeah, you're welcome, I didn't have much to do today, until the party anyway…" she said lightly, looking at her now pale orange nails as she held them in the air to dry. Admittedly, she had stolen her sister's nail polish collection and decided to try the creamy color and was happy at how it turned out.

_"Can you come over here right now?"_ Ino asked desperately. She was known to be a party perfectionist, down to the last piece of confetti. Groaning silently, Hinata looked at the arty Diesel watch on her left wrist. 3 in the afternoon, nice! They had 5 hours, and Ino was already freaking out.

"Uh huh… I'll be there in a bit. Half an hour at most…"

_"Thanks Hina!"_

Disconnecting the call, Hinata looked vaguely at the photo she had of Ino that would pop up whenever she called. _I wonder how this party's going to be…_

Sitting up suddenly, Hinata realized something. _Gah! I didn't tell Neji!_

* * *

4 hours and a telling of Neji, Tenten and Lee later, Hinata and Ino looked around the former's living room, admiring their work.

"Yeah, we rock." Ino commented lightly, putting her hands on her hips.

Her large living room was now party-ready. A table by the back wall was groaning under bowls of food and various beverages, alcoholic and not. There was a colored disco ball type thing that spun around at a constant speed, throwing pink, purple, red, green, blue and yellow spots of light all over. The room was dim, lit by only a string of white Christmas lights around the perimeter of the walls. In a corner next to the couch, a fantastic stereo was dully playing a song on a low volume with the only thing audible coming out of it was the pumping of the bass.

Hinata, who was sitting on the couch, nodded lightly before smiling at her blond friend. "Ino… why did Naruto bail on you?"

She just sighed and sat down next to her. "It's not that. I couldn't reach him to say that we needed to buy the stuff today. He's so dead when he comes to his own party as if he were a guest. Such a little asshole!"

Hinata blushed a little, but took nothing much of what she had said. Ino was the friend who insulted people and got away with it. It was just her personality, and once you saw through the initial viciousness there was a wonderful young woman.

"Hina… you know that Naruto is insane about Sakura…"

Yes, she knew better than anyone else at this point. "Yeah. But if I don't have any hope, what's the point in living?"

It was one of those rhetorical, deep and thought-provoking questions that Hinata was prone to dish out randomly. She just said it quietly and with a smile on her face, but when someone thought about it, they were likely to become depressed for a short amount of time until they forgot. A strange power this girl had.

Basically, a question Ino hated and chose to ignore, sending the pair of them into a sleepy silence.

They were both exhausted and the party wasn't even due to start for an hour. It was really hard getting ready for something like this, especially when you were with Ino the crazy perfectionist. Honestly, Hinata had been moving for the last 3 hours straight. Having been quiet for 5 minutes, which was bordering on driving Ino insane, she gazed absentmindedly at what Hinata was wearing. "Is that what your outfit? Seriously?"

"Eh? What's wrong with it?" Hinata cried, getting defensive. She was wearing jeans with a slightly large t-shirt. Comfortable at best.

Ino just shook her head, smiling evilly at her friend. _Oh no…_

"No…"

Ino put the pair of short shorts on the ever-growing pile on her bed before locating a small jean skirt and holding it up.

"No…"

"Hina, wow. There's nothing wrong with all these things!"

Hinata just shook her head. "Yeah, nothing besides a country of cleavage…"

Something broke inside of Ino. "That's it." It was a declaration. "I'm picking out what you're wearing right now. You can't say no until you've tried it on."

Her selection, to Hinata, was ridiculous. It was a dark blue long sleeved dress with a low-draping back and a short skirt. Hinata, though _leggy_ generally wasn't her compliment, was really hiding a good figure under her normal jeans and shirts.

"Ino… I don't think…"

"Try. It. On."

After 5 minutes of Hinata looking at herself in the mirror carefully, Ino came bursting into the bathroom, unable to wait any longer.

"Hinata! Did you just grow up in the last fifteen seconds?" She shrieked, causing Hinata to blush like a tomato. In order to avoid saying something, she looked back into the mirror.

It looked good. Ino held out a pair of badass leather boots with wide cuffs, which she slipped on without thinking. "These used to be my favorite, but they're too small." Ino explained, throwing one last longing glance to the awesome boots.

They fit the bluenette perfectly.

"Alright, you're wearing that. Naruto will fucking faint when he sees you." She muttered, taking out her ponytail to run a brush through it.

"But…"

Ino didn't even look at her friend, but was obviously smiling. "Just deal with it. Next is make-up!"

Hinata grudgingly obliged. She made sure that Ino wouldn't go crazy and was glad when she saw that she had only given her mascara and a bit of blush. "Why do I need blush when I'm never _not_ blushing?"

Sitting back in her chair whilst holding a pencil to her eye, Ino stopped and looked at her friend. "Hn, you're _right_. I didn't even think about that."

After taking off the blush and instead going for a clear lip-gloss, Ino finished and let Hinata go meet the incoming guests who would arrive shortly. Casting one last look at what she was wearing, she walked back into the room to await people.

_I've been to a trillion parties before… why am I so nervous?_ She asked herself lightly, biting her lip as her new nervous habit. _Oh yeah, I'm nervous because I'm drinking for the first time ever, looking as attractive as I've ever been, ever._

* * *

"Wow. Hinata, you look…"

Hinata looked up at Kiba who was struggling with words so say. The party had been going on for an hour already and he had only just arrived. "…daring."

_Of all the things he could have said, he had to go with daring?_

"Thanks… though you look rather _cowardly_ if I do say so myself." She muttered, putting a hand on her hip as she mock-glared at him. After a moment, she decided to throw her hair up into a low, messy bun.

"Well… I mean… you _know_!" He sputtered, running a hand through his hair as he tried to get himself out of the situation. At that moment Sakura passed by his shoulder, smirking.

"Just stop Kiba."

He turned to face her and grinned. "Stop? Stop what, being irresistible?"

She socked him rather painfully in the shoulder, which made him pinch her in her exposed right shoulder, which led to a pinch versus punch fest.

It wasn't until Kiba tickled her in the sides did it turn into an all out war. Since both of them were ticklish, each tried to surprise the other with an odd lunge. It was rather like the 'knife fight' game where you held your hand like a gun and locked it with another gun-hand and tried to poke the other person while at the same time defending. One move and your opponent could easily turn it around.

In this case, it was Sakura's wrong move that did her in. She lunged for his sides, he just gracefully dodged and then nailed her, sending the pink haired girl to the floor where he dived on top of her, tickling her into the next century.

Hinata stared, holding a cup of ginger ale in one dainty hand. _Since when have they been so… flirty? When did this happen?_

Then she remembered what Sakura had said to her in that car ride three days ago:

"_And then there's Kiba! I was riding in the car with him and we like all of the same music and he's really attractive actually. Do you see how sweet he is with his dog? It's just wonderful!"_

"_I just don't know. I've spent all my time going after Sasuke-kun that I almost missed all the amazing guys we take for granted."_

Maybe Sakura really thought about what she had said back then. She certainly _looked_ like she had.

"Kiba-laugh- stop… you have to-laugh-stop or I will kill you Kiba!"

Naruto, who had been getting angrier and angrier at seeing his two friends _writhing_ on the floor, turned away, muttering low threats to smother Kiba in his sleep. Not only was he completely on top of her, but also she was _enjoying_ it.

"I think it's safe to say Kiba is winning." Muttered a low voice in Hinata's ear. She turned to see her cousin Neji smirking at the sight below.

"It definitely seems so."

They stared a while at the sight before Neji sighed, revealing what was in his hand. "Tenten sends you this from across the room…" He was holding a red plastic cup of an amber liquid. "She also recommends that you drink it."

Hinata looked at Tenten who gave her a wave, drinking a cup of the same liquid she gave her. Out of politeness, she put her cup of ginger ale down and focused her full attention to the mystery drink. "Uh… why didn't she come give it to me herself?"

"Because," Neji muttered, looking over his shoulder. "I needed to talk to you anyway. I just want you to know that if you decide to get drunk, you can rest assured that you will not be taken advantaged of."

"Taken… advantage?"

Neji pinched the bridge of his nose as she said this. "You're so pure, you have no idea. Listen, this will sound awkward so I'm just going to spit it out." he paused for a second before continuing. "You are very naive and pretty and oh my God don't even get me starting on how you look tonight. Nobody knows what will happen if you get drunk, and nobody knows what people will do once they are drunk, and you are as well."

He took a really backwards way of saying that. "Okay?"

"I'm just going to say that you are well protected. First of all, there's me, and then there's Lee, and then Kiba, Shino… None of us will stand by watching if some asshole tries to… you know."

"It's like the mafia…" Hinata commented, giggling as she took a sip of her drink. It burned sliding down her throat, but she definitely felt more _alive_. It was coke mixed with rum, she realized. "Whoa, this is good!"

Neji shook his head in vain. She hadn't even listened to what he had said! Taking another gulp of the drink, her smile widened. _This is what I've been missing out on?_

* * *

The infamous Uchiha Sasuke decided to make his stealthy entrance right when everyone started to get drunk, even the chaste little heiress. He had to get a second look as he saw what was in her hands and what she was wearing. _Oh… Oh no._ He had to escape to the bathroom and take a few thousand deep breaths and think of his dead, wrinkled grandma before he was ready to face Hinata in Sexy-mode.

Now gently mixing a Gin and Tonic at the table, Sasuke smirked, watching her dance and sing softly to the music with other people. He knew there was one thing that happened at Ino's parties, that was always better if you were a tad bit smashed. It was a rule at her gigs actually… the night could not get by without at least one game.

And near midnight, they started it.

"SPIN DE BOTTLE!" Ino called, dancing her way over from the table to the middle of the floor with an empty glass bottle of booze that had been consumed. Yeah, she was _drunk_. Sitting down, she crossed her legs and called everyone's attention again.

"Alright! You don't have to play, but some do have to and if I don't get enough people, we all have to or else I'm kicking you out, got it?" It was just a fun, drunken statement. One thing Ino prided herself on was her drunken eloquence.

Some people sat out and they just hung out in the corners and talked amongst themselves. The final list of the players was Ino, Naruto, Kiba, Sakura, Neji, Tenten, Sasuke, Kankuro, Temari, Shikamaru and lastly, Hinata. She was sitting in-between Sasuke and Naruto, to her delight.

She had never participated in this game when it was played before, and that was because she just didn't like to. Her first kiss was definitely out of the way, but she was still a little hesitant about just kissing. The only real reason she was playing was because she was, indeed, NOT SOBER. And loving it.

"Rules! No family shit, because that's gross. If you land on a sibling or something like that, just spin again. And… guy on guy and girl on girl is allowed. If you don't like, don't play. And go!" Ino called, spinning the bottle in front of her with all her might.

It was almost surreal for Hinata. The Christmas lights were pretty; the disco ball was throwing colored light everywhere and the music was playing, though no one could hear it over the people talking. She looked down in time to see Ino's spin pointing to Neji. The circle catcalled and screamed their delight as Ino crawled up to Neji and started sucking face with him for a good five seconds. Funnily enough for Hinata, he was completely enjoying it.

When Ino returned to her spot, smiling lightly, she slid the bottle to Neji and he gave it a whirl, looking up at Temari as it landed pointing at her foot. He crawled his way slowly over to her, all the while thinking: _I thought she was with Shikamaru… oh wel—whoa! She's a good kisser!_

They game proceeded like that, with the kissing bouncing around the circle, mercifully missing her every time. That was until Kiba's spin landed smack dead on her.

Turning as red as a beet as Kiba sensually crawled over to her, she tried to give him a weak smile. He, of course wasted no time getting over to where she sat and then slammed his lips down on hers roughly, quickly slipping his tongue into her mouth.

_Oh yeah, I remember how much I LOVE KISSING._ She thought, putting her hands on his face to pull him in a little closer. _No wonder Ino likes this game. _

Of course, she failed to see the glares coming from Sasuke and Neji as the two of them played tonsil hockey for a few seconds. When she finally pushed him away, licking her lips, she spun the bottle weakly, giving a little "Eep!" when it landed on Sakura.

The men, Naruto and Kiba especially, hooted for joy at this. It was the first same gender occurrence, at which both Sakura and Hinata blushed. Knowing she had to do the crawling, Hinata made her way over to her friend, who shot her a smirk. She returned it before lightly kissing her for a few seconds.

The boys, including the pensive Sasuke, craned their necks to get a look at what was going on and were sad when it ended (with the obvious exception of Neji). It was such an interesting sight to see the pair of them kissing. Hinata was the pure little angel and Sakura was a little on the prude side, though not as much as the former. So to see, in many people's opinion, the two prettiest girls going at it was a little… sweet.

Hinata had been steadily drinking a bit more and more until her head was swimming slightly. _This is fun! _She thought to herself, watching Sakura make out with Kankuro with interest.

Soon, after any cold that one of them had was passed around to everybody in the circle, the impossible occurred. The heavenly pairing of incredible sex-gods… Naruto and Sasuke.

It took a few moments of everyone looking at the bottle pointing at the dark man for it to sink in. _Naruto and Sasuke._ The blond laughed out loud, to which Sasuke just smirked.

"I bet he's a terrible kisser despite being such a player!" Naruto chanted, pointing his finger at his friend quite drunkenly.

To the men in the circle, this would be funny. But to the women… it was faint-worthy. Hinata went completely red, realizing how close she would be to the action. Naruto leaned forward and crossed over her to get to Sasuke, who moved towards him, and by default her as well.

It was odd to see Sasuke so into something, but then again, he was drunk… they all were. Then it started. The girls all giggled and blushed at the pair, now in a compromising position. Hinata was caught in the middle, staring at every little detail until Naruto moved more at him, causing him to almost lie on her lap. Sasuke was now leaning back slightly, letting Naruto come onto him.

The funny thing was that they were playing it up solely because the girls were all screaming their approval. Stuck under Naruto and next to the face sucking, Hinata went redder and redder until she was close to purple. Finally finishing after a good 30 seconds, the pair stopped kissing at the same time.

It was like an alternate universe. Naruto and Sasuke were kissing, Hinata was drunk _and_ kissing people and the little cold that Neji had was now completely breeding inside of everyone's bodies. _Fun_.

"Okay, he _is _a good kisser…" Naruto admitted grudgingly, taking his body off of both Sasuke and Hinata. Everybody laughed and Sasuke just shrugged before spinning the bottle again, raising his eyebrow as it landed pointing at Tenten.

After bouncing from Sasuke to Tenten to Temari to Shikamaru, he spun it lazily and she gasped as it the spin landed on no other than Hinata.

To her extreme surprise, he was the best kisser yet.

Sasuke smirked as he always did when someone got the privilege to kiss her. It was for the fact that she would be spinning again right after that, and there was a chance it would land on him. A 1/11 chance, but still a chance.

To his hidden annoyance, she spun to Ino. That was just a short session and when Ino spun, it landed on Kiba. Watching the blond and brunette making out lazily, Sasuke just gave up. It wasn't going to happen!

He let his eyes wander, and they fell on the Christmas lights. _This is such a waste of time. A… 9 percent chance for it to land on me… that's not enough! Wait, I can't count Neji, so that makes it… oh, I don't fucking care about the math!_

But then Kiba spun to Hinata, who put her hand over her mouth for having to do it again so soon. Once again they frenched right next to Sasuke, who was still looking at the lights. _12.5 percent chance for it to land on me… That's beyond failing…_

Yawning, he turned his head back to the game and down to the bottle. _It's pointing at me? I thought Hinata and Kiba were… oh!_ Trying to contain his mounting excitement just in case it was a mistake, he looked at Hinata who was blushing cutely. Whether from embarrassment or just being drunk he didn't know, but didn't care at the time. It was for sure, for realzies.

He was going to kiss her. Wait, scratch that, _she_ was going to kiss _him_.

Spurred on by Naruto's comment of him being a good kisser, he cocked his head at her who started to lean into him, not having to crawl for they were next to each other.

_Fuck. She's right there._

She had an odd glint in her eyes, as if she was excited for it. Well, who _wouldn't_ want to kiss him? The kid had his own fanclub! Soon their noses were touching and her breath was blowing softly on his lips.

_Oh my, I'm going to kiss Uchiha Sasuke. Ohhhhhhh my…_ She thought quickly, looking into his eyes deeply.

Then their lips touched. Soft, however it was anything but innocent. _Naruto was right. He is a fanTAStic kisser. _She closed her eyes, just becoming enveloped in it all.

Sasuke, his mind completely blank, devoid of anything except her, decided to try his luck. He wrapped one of his arms around her, delicately arching her back so she seemed to curve into his body like a puzzle piece. His other arm was lightly hovering over her neck, moving slowly over her soft, china doll skin.

Displaying an initiative she did not know she possessed, Hinata knew she wanted more and so she licked his lips while kissing before slipping her tongue into his mouth to meet his. Moving her eager hands to his head, they randomly found themselves lost in his locks as she pulled him closer to her.

_He's so much more… tender and soft than I would have thought!_

_She's aggressive… who'd have known?_

"Ahem,"

Neither of them heard Kiba's interruption, but to everybody's amusement (except Neji once again, who was fuming) Hinata pulled away suddenly, gasping. "Oh!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow (singular mind you) at her, who just smiled a really happy grin. "I love this song!"

Everybody strained to hear to what was playing on the stereo now. The familiar clapping introduction made them smile. _Temperature_ by Sean Paul, a rather old song by now, but was still one of the only ones that installed such a drive to dance to it. Old, but _good._

"Come dance with me!" Hinata asked lightly, standing up and holding her hand to Sasuke. Why Sasuke? Because, he was honestly the closest one to her at the time. And they had just shared an electric moment.

The game had officially ended with her statement. It caused a reverse domino effect as people started getting up and dancing. Sasuke, still having hold of Hinata's hand twirled her around in a circle before getting into a fast salsa-type thing to the beat of the song.

"I'm sorry I'm not so much of a dancer…" She apologized despite being completely in step with him.

"Doesn't matter." He muttered, enveloping her in his arms as he took her through a very… _close_ step. Oddly, next thing either of them knew, they were completely grinding. Funny how that works out…

What exactly happened next was sort of blurry to everyone. They just danced and drank more and then danced some more. Hinata and Sasuke dominated most of each other's time, but as soon as she left to get a drink, there was a fucking line to dance with her.

_Someone's popular now that it turns out she's curvaceous… _He thought bitterly as once again he was denied his chance to snag her as a partner by none other than the quiet Gaara.

It was true; Hinata had a smattering of bachelors fighting to dance with her. What was both sad and funny at the same time was that most of them wouldn't really remember her being so outgoing come morning. 'Tis the thing with those sorts of parties… it's hard to recall exactly what happened and who did what.

But to Hinata, it didn't matter. The fact that she did try her hand at being outgoing gave her a little glowing orb of confidence that radiated energy for her to drive off of. She was, in affect, a living battery.

But come morning, that battery would lose its charge to give way to the massive headache that was already spawning in her noggin.

* * *

**Yes, done done done. I have Hinata's dress and boots. And I love it. **

**Scene's from the Next:**

**"Of all the things that happened, all you can remember is them making out?"**

**Bubbles: plus, sasuke-kun's bust is **_**nowhere**_** near mine, sry sas…**


	7. Grand 'Ol Gushing Gossip

**Alright…this here is a test. A personal test. Basically it's my try of an AIM conversation. A great majority of this one is in IM form, complete with poor grammar and screen names. I tried to make it as lifelike as possible, which is why I just typed the whole thing up without using the delete button and instead corrected my mistakes in the next line as if someone were correcting their own mistake. Or they don't correct them, so if you see one, don't freak out, it's on purpose. Same thing with me using a lowercase 'i' instead of 'I'.**

**I also realized that the personalities of my main characters are a bit different when they are IMing. I made that so because, if you think about it, everybody talks differently when they write what they want to say as opposed to saying it face-to-face. It is easier to admit things when the other person isn't there gawking at you, and it is also easier to reply to said things.**

**Therefore, Sasuke and Hinata are both braver in what they write. Well, more like Hinata is braver, Sasuke is just more assertive and chatty. That is mainly because both of them can type super fast, so it's easy to say what they want.**

**Oh, and thank you to everybody who reviewed last time, 'tis appreciated greatly. I'm looking forward to reading more clever and intelligent reviews for this chapter.**

**This whole big Naruto bonanza certainly is not owned or controlled by me. I know, it's a pity…**

* * *

The party fizzled out in the early morning. Most of the people decided to crash at Ino's place, but some of them walked home. Neji and Sasuke were among those more resilient to alcohol, the ones who managed to get home. As Hinata woke up from where she was on Ino's couch, she almost fainted at the sheer pain of the headache.

It was all made worse as her phone rang from where she had placed it on the windowsill.

"Ugh, Hinata answer that thing!" Sakura muttered groggily from the floor. Naruto and Kiba, who had conked out in the living room as well, muttered obscenities as they rolled around and looked up.

"I'm going, I'm going…" Hinata called, rolling off the couch and almost landing on Kiba's stomach with her foot as she steadied herself. "Gomen Kiba…"

She had always liked her ring tone because she liked the song and that it was loud so she could hear it when she didn't know where it was. But now, she hated its cacophony of noisy techno sounds. It simply _bit_ at her ears, causing actual pain.

Picking it up, she frowned when she saw the picture of the caller. _Neji? What could he possibly want?_

"Nii-san, what do you want?"

"You're sounding snappy my dear…" Neji drawled over the phone, laughing. "Could it possibly be because of your _first ever hangover_?"

"No…" She said stubbornly, closing the curtains to block out the blinding light from the window.

"I'm coming to pick you up," he stated lightly, still laughing.

"Eh? No Neji, it's early, don't make me leave!" She argued, noticing that she was wearing what she had worn last night and was oddly comfortable in it.

Neji chuckled, making her attempt to glare at him though the phone. "Hinata, it's 2:30…"

"PM?"

"Yes, PM…"

Hinata gasped and took her phone away from he ear to check the time. It was actually 2:26 PM. "Loser, it's only 2:26!"

Kiba, who was now pretty awake, was leaning up against the couch and yawning. _Hah, Hinata called Neji a loser…_

"Hinata, please think about what you just said." Neji muttered.

But Hinata was thinking about other things, things that were going to happen today. "Gah! The party!"

"Uh huh… I was going to call you sooner but decided against it. You told your father you were going to get your dress today, but you also need to come back to sort some things out. I don't think you have time to go buy one, as picky as you are…"

Tonight was an annual dinner party gala that the Hyuga's held for everyone who was important. Getting an invitation to that was like getting invited to a birthday party of a king. It was tonight, and Hinata was screwed on the dress front. Screwed like a... a... screw.

"Neji… what am I going to do?" Hinata asked shrilly, pacing a circle around the living room and throwing her hand in the air.

"Oi, Hina… are you talking about that party?" Kiba asked, attempting to stand up but getting a dizzy spell from moving so drastically. He stayed bent over for a few moments before standing up as tall as he would normally.

Hinata muttered a small apology to Neji before holding the phone to her chest and directing her question at Kiba. "How do you know about that?"

"Because my family is most definitely going." He muttered cockily, stretching out his arms. On the floor Sakura was now sitting up and Naruto was still sprawled over the mess of blankets and pillows, his eyes half open.

That made sense when Hinata thought about it. The Inuzukas generally worked for the police as the top investigators and trackers, and were a pretty well known family. It seemed right for them to get an invitation.

"Are you coming right now?"

"Actually, I'm on my way out of the door."

* * *

When she left Ino's house, she put on her sunglasses and looked down the street for Neji's silver car. Finally it came and to her obvious displeasure honked loudly as he slowed to a stop.

Getting into the car, she shot him a glare as if accusing him of this whole mess.

"Do you even remember what happened last night?" He asked lightly, glancing at the rear-view mirror as he pulled onto the road. He was having fun with this, she could tell.

"Of course I can…" She muttered angrily at his 'older brother' charade. "You're treating me like a child you know. What are you… _three_ months older than me?"

"I may be only three months older but as far as experience goes I might as well be three _years_ older. You say you remember, but what?" He asked lightly, playing off her not being in her best state.

She opened her mouth but paused when she really couldn't think of anything. It was all really a blur. A loud and busy blur. Then she struck gold. "We played spin the bottle."

"Good… what else happened?"

Hinata bit her lip as she strained herself to remember. There was something that kept popping up. Her being under Sasuke and Naruto who…

A ruby-red blush quickly struck her paler-than-usual cheeks. She put her hand over her mouth as the blush invaded her whole face. "Oh my…"

"Hn?" Neji asked, glancing over at his cousin who was frozen.

"Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun…"

He let out a laugh, causing her to flinch at the loud noise. "Of all the things that happened, all you can remember is them making out?"

She let out a little "Eep!" as she remembered ever detail vividly. Then more seemed to become clear, particularly the end of the game. Her and Sasuke… _Oh my…_ _He is an incredible kisser…_

"You are such a girl."

* * *

Hinata had been dreading the speed at which time flew by. Every hour that passed was one hour less time she had until she had to go to the damn party. She didn't want to go at all. She was without a dress, without a clear head and also without any will to go at all. Deciding to sign onto AIM for a second, she booted up her laptop.

_  
Online (3/436):_

_Blossom_

_CaptainAwesome_

_Panda-chan_

_Offline (433/436)_

_  
Sakura, Naruto and Tenten. Not a lot of people on…_ She smiled at Sakura's SN, Blossom. Back when they were freshmen, they decided to have matching screen names. Sakura was Blossom, Hinata was Bubbles (for the personality, not the hair) and Ino was Buttercup. A window popped up with that sound when you get an IM, but her volume was on incredibly loud, so she hastened to turn it down before reading.

Blossom: how's your FIRST EVER hangover feeling hina-chan?

Bubbles: bad. badbadbadbadbad. i can barely think, let alone get myself ready for the party

Blossom: that sucks… at least you're invited tho…

Bubbles: i really can't not be, considering it's at my house.

Bubbles: father expects me to make an appearance.

Blossom: you don't have to do naything you don't want to.

Blossom: anything

Bubbles: …

Blossom; hey, come into my chat box thing! hold up i'll send you an invite…

Hinata had to wait a few moments, in which time she opened iTunes and started listening to all her music on random. Then the box popped up.

_You have been invited to join Chat Room: Sakura is amazing._

_ Enter _ _Dismiss_

Scrolling her mouse over the 'Enter' button, she clicked lightly.

_Bubbles has entered the Chat._

_Who's here already: Blossom, CaptainAwesome, Cutebutt._

"Who's Cutebutt?" Hinata wondered aloud, noticing that she didn't have him as a buddy. Maybe someone had changed his or her name.

CaptainAwesome: oi hinata!

Bubbles: hi

Cutebutt: hey

Blossom: we were talking about the party.

CaptainAwesome: yeah, that was a good one. too bad me and you didn't get to kiss eh hina?

Hinata's heart convulsed lightly as he said that. What was he implying, that he wanted to have kissed her? Or maybe he was just being nice. Wondering how to reply, she chose the safe way out.

Bubbles: you seemed to be plenty fulfilled with sasuke-kun…

Blossom: oh! she remembers that

CaptainAwesome: who doesn't?

Cutebutt: ino prolly doesn't… she was hitting up the juice pretty bad…

___  
Okay, so it's not Ino…_ Hinata thought, for Ino wouldn't have referred to herself in the third person. It also had to be someone who went to the party to have known that.

CaptainAwesome: man, you were like the only one who made it out alive.

Blossom: that's because he's so used to getting drunk and hooking up, isn't he?

It was a boy. That takes out a few people. Maybe it was Kiba, since he had the audacity to use that screen name. But Kiba didn't get drunk too often, right?

Bubbles: does she always get that drunk?

Blossom: not usually.

CaptainAwesome: nah…

Cutebutt: that was pretty bad though.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore. It was time to be daring and risk possibly embarrassing herself.

Bubbles: ummm, sorry for asking, but cutebutt, who are you?

CaptainAwesome: lol

Blossom: hah!

Cutebutt: sasuke.

"What?!" She called out loud. That couldn't possibly be true! The cold Uchiha Sasuke having a name like Cutebutt?

Bubbles: O.O

CaptainAwesome: that was a funny story, ne sasuke?

Blossom: once when we were working on a project together, naruto and i decided to give him a screen name.

Blossom: and then he kept it because he really didn't want to go through all the hard work of getting a new one

Bubbles: really?

Cutebutt: hn.

CaptainAwesome: it's a sign of masculinity to have a name like that

CaptainAwesome: i think

Cutebutt: yeah, and it's a sign of stupid to have a name like yours

Blossom: rofl

Bubbles: lol

CaptainAwesome: w/e… so hina, what was your favorite part of getting drunk?

Blossom: lol yeah

Bubbles: not the headaches, that's for sure.

Bubbles: it was fun to just… let go. you know?

Bubbles: that rhymed ;)

Blossom: i hear ya. what was your favorite part of the party?

CaptainAwesome: dude, me and sasuke. ftw.

Blossom: i didn't ask you…

Blossom: …but i totally agree.

Cutebutt: hinata, it's your question.

CaptainAwesome: psh, you WOULD want to know!

Bubbles: i liked the dancing with everybody and the music…

As she typed that the abandoned window of her conversation with Sakura was lighting up._What does she want?_

Blossom: that is SO not the best thing and you know it.

Bubbles: ?

Blossom: was it dancing with a certain person?

Bubbles: no!

Blossom: …

Bubbles: well

Blossom: …?

Bubbles: FINE! my favorite part was kissing sasuke-kun!

Blossom: !

Blossom: i was asking about dancing… but you just admitted it!

Blossom: hina… lol.

Hinata was a little angry at having admitted that, even though it was undeniably true.

Bubbles: what about you and kiba writhing on the floor tickling each other!?

Blossom: what about it?

Bubbles: i doubt you were thinking about either sasuke-kun or naruto-kun when that was going on

Bubbles: ;)

Blossom: whaddaya mean?

Bubbles: you. may. like. kiba.

Bubbles: i think that was your favorite part of ze partay, Sakura-chan.

Blossom: what if it was?

Bubbles: oh, and kissing him too! that was pretty heated.

Blossom: but only a little less heated than you and sasuke-kun. i saw touching hina, and i saw lots of it.

Bubbles: at least we weren't all cuddled up sleeping together…

Blossom: WHAT?!

Bubbles: i saw that

Meanwhile, during this friendly 'who can get more dirt on the other' talk between two friends, the chat room was rather quiet.

Cutebutt: i think they're talking about girl shit

CaptainAwesome: no duh.

CaptainAwesome: bet it's about you

Blossom: that's it hina… you're so dead for saying that!

Cutebutt: …

Bubbles: what? i just saw you guys! i'm telling the truth!

Blossom: that KCAN"T be true, because i'm not a cuddler when i sleep!

Bubbles: yeah, well he is

CaptainAwesome: who?!

Blossom: whatever hina… and plus, that wasn't even my favorite part!

Bubbles: you're getting defensive, so it must have been!

Cutebutt: ?

Blossom: that's it! i'm going bitch mode.

Bubbles: waitwait what?

CaptainAwesome: bitch mode?

Blossom: -wicked grin-

Bubbles: NO! yuou better not!

Blossom:_Blossom: that is SO not the best thing and you know it._

___Bubbles: ?_

___Blossom: was it dancing with a certain person?_

___Bubbles: no!_

___Blossom: …_

___Bubbles: well_

___Blossom: …?_

___Bubbles: FINE! my favorite part was kissing sasuke-kun!_

___Blossom: !_

___Blossom: I was asking about dancing… but you just admitted it! _

___Blossom: hina… lol._

Hinata gasped at what had just occurred. That was a bitch move. A major bitch move. Sakura must have been pissed.

CaptainAwesome: I told you they were talking about yuou.

Bubbles: sakura!

Blossom: that's what you get.

In real life however, 'Cutebutt' was blushing. Not a Hinata 'full-faced tomato', but a small tinge of pink was certainly defining his features. That was certainly both morale and ego boosting… more than any complements of his kissing Naruto had been.

Bubbles: that was so mean!

CaptainAwesome: i love girl talk lol

Cutebutt: …

Cutebutt: if it's any consolation… that was my favorite part too.

Everyone except Sasuke gasped at his or her computer screen. That was…_unexpected. _The conversation stopped for a solid minute as everybody took in what had been said. That boost of his morale has certainly raised his level of daring.

CaptainAwesome: wow

CaptainAwesome: she must have been a good kisser

Cutebutt: you have no idea.

CaptainAwesome: better than me?

Cutebutt: infinitely better

CaptainAwesome: you're only saying that because you think she's hot!

Cutebutt: yes, that and because she's a better kisser.

Sakura opened her mouth with her fingers hovering over her keyboard, but couldn't move. That backfired on her horribly. For Hinata though, it was beyond shocking. I'm hot and a good kisser? It was the time to say something.

Bubbles: thank you

Cutebutt: you're welcome.

There was another long pause between anyone saying anything. Sakura looked over her conversation with Hinata, concentrating on the Kiba bits. Was that true? Could I be falling for Kiba, Naruto___ and _Sasuke?

CaptainAwesome: this got awkward

Cutebutt: hn

Bubbles: i think sakura took herself out of the convo…

Bubbles: sakura?

Blossom: eh?

Bubbles: i'm sorry for what i said on our othe conversation.

Bubbles: other

Blossom: no… it's true.

CaptainAwesome: gah! they're talking girl language.

Bubbles: ?

Blossom: everything you said is true. sorry for being such a bitch with the copy/paste move.

Bubbles: …sorry…

Blossom: it's fine.

Cutebutt: it's like they have a mind link through a computer.

CaptainAwesome: wait, what does hina havre to be sorry about?

CaptainAwesome: have

Blossom: hey guys, i gotta go do the dishes.

Blossom: see yous later.

CaptainAwesome: oh, bye.

Cutebutt: bye

Bubbles: call me tonight please?

Blossom: kay…

Bubbles: i didn't mean for it to happen

Blossom: i kno

Blossom: laters

___Blossom has signed out._

For those not fluent in the bizarre girl language, Hinata was apologizing for what Sasuke had said to her. She knew Sakura liked Sasuke and felt that it was her fault for Sasuke having said he liked kissing her. She shouldn't have admitted that she liked kissing him in the first place.

Sakura was angry with herself, not at Hinata. It was just that Hinata was someone that she could channel her anger through. She knew that Hinata had no control over what Sasuke had said, but she was now sad that he had said it. Also, to add another layer of impossible onto the whole thing, she was confused at her mixed thoughts for the three men who now had special places in her heart.

CaptainAwesome: hina…

Bubbles: ?

CaptainAwesome: you were talking about a party this morning, right?

Bubbles: yea. what about it?

CaptainAwesome: why wasn't i invited?

Cutebutt: because you're lame

CaptainAwesome: it's not like you're invited!

Cutebutt: yes i was

Bubbles: you were?

Cutebutt: yeah. idk why

CaptainAwesome: psh… proly because hinatas dad wants to marry you 2 off

Bubbles: !

Cutebutt: i think it has something to do with school stuff

Cutebutt: 'scholastic achievement'

CaptainAwesome: oh yeah, you would

Cutebutt: no need to be jealous

Bubbles: naruto-kun, don't take it personally

CaptainAwesome: i'm not

CaptainAwesome: didn't even want to go anyway…

Bubbles: well that makes 2 of us.

Cutebutt: ?

Bubbles: my head hurts too much

Bubbles: i feel like im going to puke

CaptainAwesome: hah! first hangover's a bitch

Bubbles: and i don't have a dress

Cutebutt: just go in what you are wearing

Bubbles: hah…

CaptainAwesome: ?

Bubbles: i cant

Bubble: it's a formal thing

Cutebutt: ask sakura for one?

CaptainAwesome: ask sasuke for one?

Bubbles: lol maybe.

Bubbles: it wouldn't fit tho

Bubbles: plus, sasuke-kun's bust is nowhere near mine, sry sas…

Cutebutt: ouch

Cutebutt: at least i'm tall

Cutebutt: that's something i have on both of you

CaptainAwesome: shut upp!

Bubbles: i like my height

Bubbles: i'll live longer

Cutebutt: well you're a girl

Cutebutt: you're allowed to be short

Bubbles: lol

Cutebutt: naruto on the other hand, that's just weird

CaptainAwesome: i'm not even that much shorter than yoU!

Bubbles: yea you are actually. sry.

CaptainAwesome: you guys suck

_CaptainAwesome is away._

Bubbles: now i feel bad

Cutebutt: don't

Cutebutt: he'll get over it in a few seconds

Bubbles: …k

This was slightly awkward now. Hinata could talk to Naruto one on one (more or less), and Sakura for sure, but Sasuke was just different. Yeah, she was more or less a pretty good friend of his, but he was quiet most of the time. No time for her to get to know him all too well. But he seemed to talk more over AIM, which was heartening…

Cutebutt: you really don't want to go?

Bubbles: well…

Bubbles: yea, i really don't

Cutebutt: then dont

Bubbles: i cant just not go

Cutebutt: yea you can.

Bubbles: where would i go instead?

Bubbles: seeing as it's hosted at my humble abode

Cutebutt: stay in your room?

Bubbles: no, i cant even think about skipping! my father would be so mad!

Cutebutt: what's the biggest problem?

Bubbles: lack of dress, lack of will

Cutebutt: ha

___CaptainAwesome has returned from away._

Bubbles: sry naruto, i didn't mean anything!

Cutebutt: don't aploogise, he just threw a fit

Cutebutt: apologize

Cutebutt: wow i butchered that word

CaptainAwesome: actually, i went to get some food

Cutebutt: right…

CaptainAwesome: it's true, i have ramen right under mah nose!

Cutebutt: whatever…

Cutebutt: you could always go over to sakuras place

CaptainAwesome: what were we talking about?

Cutebutt: getting her out of going to the party

CaptainAwesome: right!

CaptainAwesome: since you guys need to talk about whatever the hell transpired with the 'im sorry' and 'you're right'

CaptainAwesome: that would work

Cutebutt: …

CaptainAwesome: where'd she go?

Cutebutt: well, considering i can _see _her…

CaptainAwesome: HINATA?

___Bubbles has been disconnected._

Cutebutt: nice

CaptainAwesome: she just dropped off the face of the planet!

CaptainAwesome: !

Cutebutt: don't be so dramatic

CaptainAwesome: dude…

Cutebutt: ?

CaptainAwesome: how you like her?

Cutebutt: excuse me?

CaptainAwesome: do you like her?

Cutebutt: what's that supposed to mean?

CaptainAwesome: you know, my plan

CaptainAwesome: to get a girl for u that you cant just leave in the street

Cutebutt: i don't leave girls in the streets

CaptainAwesome: you kno what i mean

Cutebutt: there was never any problem with me falling for her

Sitting behind his computer at home, Naruto was blindsided. The ramen he had just cooked was cooling at a steady rate, but he didn't make any move to eat it. What the fuck did that mean? He wondered, lightly putting his fingers on his keys as he thought about it.

Naruto had never been the brightest crayon in the box.

CaptainAwesome: nani? que? qua? what?

Cutebutt: …

Cutebutt: dobe

CaptainAwesome: whaddaya mean by that?

CaptainAwesome: did you always like her?

Cutebutt: …

CaptainAwesome: NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO RETURN INTO YOUR SHELL OF SILENCE!

CaptainAwesome: dude srsly..

CaptainAwesome: ok, im just going to assume that u have always liked her

CaptainAwesome: if hypothetically that was the case…

CaptainAwesome: why haven't u asked her out?

CaptainAwesome: it's a hypothetical question… nothing to lose

CaptainAwesome: comon!

Cutebutt: if, hypothetically, i liked her for a while….

Cutebutt: hypothetically of course

CaptainAwesome: yea?

Cutebutt: there's someone standing in my way

Sasuke paused after typing this. It felt good for him to get it off his chest, cryptically or not. He was just proving to himself how oblivious Naruto was, especially when it came to Hinata. It was ascertained that Naruto was an idiot from how he responded.

CaptainAwesome: zomg who?

CaptainAwesome: ?

CaptainAwesome: i'll take him out of the picture for you!

CaptainAwesome: put him on my hit list, lol

Cutebutt: don't think you know him

Cutebutt: i gotta take a shower for the party

Cutebutt: later dobe

___Cutebutt has signed out._

___Bubbles has signed back in._

Bubbles: sry guys

Bubbles: my cat… wow, this is a story

Bubbles: my cat jumped from my bed to my desk that's like 5 feet away, and then skidded on the surface and completely decked my wireless thing

CaptainAwesome: it's just me,_sunshine_ just signed out

Bubbles: oh

Bubbles: well, i called sakura when i was waiting for the internet to boot up

Bubbles: i'm going over to her house instead of party

CaptainAwesome: noice

CaptainAwesome: but sasuke wont like that

Maybe Naruto wasn't as stupid as he looked.

Bubbles: ?

And maybe Hinata wasn't as smart as her grades depicted.

Bubbles: why would he have a problem with that?

CaptainAwesome: cuz he likes you

Hinata gasped, putting her hands over her mouth. What? How can that be? She read and re-read what Naruto had typed and could honestly make no sense of it. But… but… what?!

CaptainAwesome: whoa sry

CaptainAwesome: you know when your at a lap top and your typing rly fast and so your hand goes over the mouse pad and then accidently cliks and highlights a part of your sentence, and then you type something else, completely deleting what you wrote int eh first place?

CaptainAwesome: that happened

CaptainAwesome: i took out the middle of my sentence

Bubbles: what did you mean to say?

CaptainAwesome: "cuz he likes hanging out with you"

It made him feel oddly clever. Here he had just told her the truth flat out and then lied about it and said something else that was probably true. If Sasuke knew what he had done, there would be a shit storm.

Hinata felt complimented. He liked to hang out with her, which was nice! Maybe they were becoming better friends.

Bubbles: kiba'll be there

CaptainAwesome: ah, he's going to be missin you too

Bubbles: o... then i shouldn't skip it if people want me to go

CaptainAwesome: no, dont change your mind because of what i said

CaptainAwesome: just go to sakuras

CaptainAwesome: forget I sai danything

CaptainAwesome: said anything

Bubbles: are you sure?

CaptainAwesome: uh huh

CaptainAwesome: now im expecting you to NOT go, and you don't want to let ME down do ya?

Bubbles: ah! don't say that!

CaptainAwesome: right, sry.

Bubbles: i gotta go, but thanks for the chat!

CaptainAwesome: np

CaptainAwesome: thanks to you as well

CaptainAwesome: see you later, maybe we'll all come to the beach again

Bubbles: that'd be nice

CaptainAwesome: bye

Bubbles: bye!

___Bubbles has signed out._

CaptainAwesome: this is lonely now…

___CaptainAwesome has signed out._

* * *

**There it was! My AIM conversation that successfully confused four, count it, four citizens of Konoha. Naruto has no idea what is going on in Sasuke's head, Sakura and Hinata were both confused about what was going on in their own personal noggins, and Sasuke… he was pretty solid actually.**

**Well, I guess he doesn't know what's going on in pretty little Hinata's head.**

**Idk.**

**Hope you liked it! I always wanted to do an AIM one and it was fun coming up with screen names. I got Sasuke's from an inside joke with my brother which I decided to use. Fun stuff.**

**Rate and Review and Re-read if you please!**

_**Scenes from the Next Episode:**_

_**-"Uh huh. Yeah. Team Awesome? That's uncreative… Psh, we're the Boom Squad… Well it's better than yours!"**_

_**-Not that she was into that sort of stuff, but she thought that if you were going to have a fake war, you should make it as realistic as possible.**_


	8. Harbinger of Hostile Hunting part one

**First off, I'd like to thank all of the heroic readers out their who have put this little bugger on their story alert lists, favorite stories, and me on their favorite authors. You have no idea (unless you are a writer yourself) what it's like for people to call you one of their favorite authors, especially when I have only written one thing. Thank you thank you thank you.**

**On that topic, I assure you guys that I am working on another story, but I want it to be more finished before I start publishing, which will increase the chances of me actually putting effort into it as well as this one. So, just hang tight for a tick while I whip up a few more chapters!**

**Yosh! Now I should talk about this chapter. Originally it was supposed to be one, but I found that, what with the flashbacks and all the descriptions, this one was long as hell. I didn't mean it to be, but I decided to split it up. I managed to jam-pack this one with 14 Word document pages of nonsense other than the points I needed to get across. Don't get me wrong, it's necessary nonsense. Necessary to the entertainment of you darling readers. **

**Naruto is not _my_ work of genius, sorry guys…**

* * *

"Tell me again why we're doing this." Hinata snapped, a little angry about being stolen from her house by none other than her best friend.

Kiba didn't seem to hear her very well. It was true that the stereo was turned up ungodly loud, so that may have been the reason. Reaching over, Hinata turned down the volume to an almost non-existent setting.

"Kiba-kun!"

"What?" He asked, looking over at her with a small grin. They were on the highway in Kiba's Jeep, racing towards some random location to engage in a game of _paintball_. Yes, _paintball_.

"Why are we doing this?" She had to raise her voice a little in order to be heard over the rushing wind.

He gripped the steering wheel harder and Hinata could _feel _him speeding up. They were already cruising over the speed limit, so it was a little daunting. "I wouldn't expect you to get it… it's a guy thing."

"Then… why am I included?" She asked, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Because Hina, it's a matter of _pride_. You're my friend, I trust you to back me up."

Hinata just looked out the window to avoid glaring at her friend. "Ok, why can't you just settle it with rock-paper-scissors then? Why _paintball_?"

"Because it's fucking sweet, that's why. Shino agrees with me, don't you?"

The Aburame, who had been sitting in the backseat next to the enormous Akamaru, shook his head. "I don't actually."

Hinata looked back at Shino and smiled sweetly. "See, he doesn't actually want to be here!"

It had been a week since the grand party at Ino's. A week since Hinata had ditched the gala at her own house to sleep over at Sakura's. During that night, they had just girly-ed themselves out, complete with manicures, pedicures, facials, makeovers and _The Notebook_. Sakura had seemed determined to get to the bottom of everyone's feelings, especially her own.

"_Maybe the reason I was so adamant on getting Sasuke was because everyone else was… Don't get me wrong, he's amazing, but he's a fad that I jumped on. I just don't know anymore. You know what? You can have him Hinata… I'm through with unrequited love!"_

"_Who says I want him?" Hinata muttered, taking a cucumber off of her eye and munching on it. Sakura was lying on her back with her pink hair spread out above her head, cucumber-eyed and prodding the facial mud._

"_No one… he just might want you…"_

"_That… that's about as likely as Naruto wanting me that way."_

_Sakura peeled off a cucumber to look at her friend. Hinata had her long hair in a ponytail that was literally on the top of her head like some character in Dr. Seuss. Another cucumber slice found its demise as she bit it in half. "Yeah, sure… hey, what's the point of us doing the cucumber-eye thing if you're just going to eat them right off the bat?"_

"Trust the two most hot-headed teenagers in Konoha to declare a paintball fight…" Shino muttered suddenly, pressing his sunglasses to his face. Hinata cast a glare at Kiba before looking down and shaking her head.

* * *

Let's back up a bit here. -push _rewind_ button on universal remote that starts the rewind sound-

_They were all at the beach yesterday. All meaning Kiba, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and Ino, with Hinata life guarding of course. Naruto and Kiba had gotten into a sandcastle-making contest. _

"_So, what does the winner get?" Sakura asked lightly, watching the two heated males furiously start creating motes and walls. She was leaning over the foundations of Kiba's castle, watching what he was doing._

_He stopped and looked over at Naruto whose mote had just collapsed in on itself. "Uh… oh! I got it!"_

_Naruto stopped in his intense mote reparation to look at Kiba oddly. "Que?" The dumbass used Spanish sometimes for no reason at all… probably to impress Sakura._

"_The winner gets a kiss."_

_Sakura immediately blushed crimson. "Eh!"_

"_Yeah! Sakura-chan, you kiss whoever wins!" Naruto called, flinging a sand-ball at a tower Kiba has just painstakingly built, knocking it over. Looks like a little guerilla warfare was allowed._

"_That's not just it…" Kiba muttered, smiling an evil grin at each of the three girls in turn. "A kiss from Sakura, Ino _and_ Hinata." _

_Ino, having been annoying Sasuke beyond repair, didn't hear and just gave Kiba a thumbs up when he called to her for approval. Looking to Hinata, she waved to him lightly. That was enough. _

"_2/3 majority… Sakura-chan, you gotta do it!" Naruto called, now recreating his mote._

"_Fine by me…" Sakura muttered, sitting down in the sand in-between the two castles under-construction. "Sasuke-kun, you want in on the castle wars?"_

_His book today was Macbeth. Looking up from that, he shook his head at his pink-haired friend and continued to try to read over Ino's chirping. Cute little bibliophile…_

_It started innocently enough, right? But after a while, when their citadels were beginning to take shape, both resorted to aerial combat. It started with Naruto, in his frenzy of digging up wetter sand, spilling a showering of sand chunks at Kiba's castle, taking down a wall and a tower. _

_In retaliation of the hit, Kiba took a flat stick and flicked a cannonball of wet sand like a trebuchet at Naruto's wall. The resulting blow was so well aimed that it collapsed Naruto's main tower into his mote, destroying both. _

_That started a sand fight at the castles, which elevated to a rock fight, which further elevated into a Kiba vs. Naruto physical sand war. After Hinata had to pull the lifeguard card on them, they angrily subsided. Since neither of them had won, in all their raging testosterone and heated, manly emotions, they challenged the other to a war. _

_A paintball war. _

"We're so going to win, that's why I challenged him." Kiba muttered, pulling into the enclosure they had chosen. They were in a dirt-road parking lot that was on the outskirts of a semi-deciduous, thick green forest.

The forest was about 4 miles in diameter, with a naturally cleared place in the center that would be good for people who got out. Hinata vaguely wondered how Kiba and Naruto had found such a perfect spot.

"I was under the impression that _he_ challenged _you._" Shino said quietly, weirdly grinning the closest thing to a smile that had ever been seen.

Kiba parked and took out his keys. "We challenged each other, shut up. You think Neji's here yet?"

Akamaru jumped out of the car rather lightly, for being so large. He ran around, glad to stretch his legs as Hinata stepped out. It was now about noon, for they had stopped somewhere for a little lunch. Hinata had been mad that he had woken her up early only to have it all commence at around 2pm, but was over it now.

His question was directed to Hinata, who decided against a very scathing remark for one a little tamer. "You were going 20 above the speed limit, so no."

"Funny. Alright, suit up." Kiba called, jumping out of his car and reaching in the trunk for what looked like armor.

"E-excuse me?"

Kiba tossed a huge mass of plastic armor at her quickly, laughing as she fumbled with it before dropping it on the dusty parking lot ground. "These shots are not little nerf shits… these are more or less a bullet, only instead of embedding itself in your body, it explodes on contact, colorfully."

Shino got out of the car silently and observed the pile of protective gear. "It hurts when it hits." He translated, throwing Hinata his equivalent to a smile.

Hinata nudged what looked like the front with her toe lightly before sighing. "Why am I in this?"

Getting out his own uniform, Kiba slipped the football-like torso piece over his head all the while muttering. "Because we picked teams. You, me, Shino, Neji, Lee, Tenten versus Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino. It makes for even teams Hina…

Looking at her armor, she noticed that it was lighter-looking than Kiba's. He had probably found the lightest for her, being a girl. But still, coupled with what she was wearing right now, it would be hard to move in. Too hard.

When Kiba had burst into her house yelling that Hinata was desperately needed for something that was outdoors, she didn't have a lot of time to plan. Of course, she thought they were going to the park or something, so she put on a semi-short skirt and a baggy, thick and holey sweater over a tight, bordering on too-small-for-her tank top. Then she completed the look with a pair of purple flats.

Upon reaching the downstairs where Kiba was previously yelling, she saw that he returned to his car. So that was where she went. They were halfway to picking up Shino at his house when Kiba noticed what she was wearing.

"_Hinata, no."_

"_What?"_

_He sighed lightly, turning around and heading in the direction of his house, the opposite of where they were going. "That is not proper apparel for what we are doing."_

_Hinata, being in a _fabulous_ mood after been screamed awake at 8 in the morning, snapped a retort. "Well, considering you _told_ me what we're doing, I just went multi-functional."_

"_A skirt is multi-functional?"_

_Not even bothering to turn off the car when they reached his house, Kiba jumped out and pulled Hinata into his house, quickly leading her to his messy room. "Kiba-kun, what—"_

"_Wear."_

_He was digging in his closet and threw a pair of grey cargo pants at her, which she caught lightly. _

"_This will not fit me."_

"_Doesn't matter." He muttered, giving up in his search for whatever else he was looking for and running out of his room, presumably to give her time to change. _

_They didn't fit all too bad, to be honest. Kiba was pretty skinny, and she had hips. Snatching a silver-studded, black belt from where it was slung over a chair, she buckled it lopsided around her hips, on top of the loops, as they were too small. It fit better with the belt. _

_The length of the legs was tremendous though. She rolled them up tightly to her knees before letting them go and watching them just fall back in despair. _

"_Think fast." _

_Hinata looked up in time to see a pair of brown hiking boots flying through the air at her, complete with a pair of socks in one of them. After catching only one of them, letting the other one crash into a lamp on his desk and scooting it to make it precariously balancing on the edge, she looked at him oddly._

"_They're nee-sans… just put them on and then we have to go."_

_They fit reasonably well so Hinata and Kiba ran back into his car and he sped off to Shino's house. Deciding to solve the 'long leg' problem, she tucked them into the boots, giving her a soldier look._

"_Kiba-kun, what are we doing?"_

_He just smiled; going faster when he saw there was nobody on the street he was on. "You're on my paintball team."_

"_Nani?!" _

That armor wouldn't fit over the huge sweater she had, so she was left with two options. One would be to suck it up and take not being able to move, but also risk overheating. The other would be to take off the sweater and, god forbid, be in only her black tank top, which would be covered up anyway. Tough choice…

"Look away please." Hinata requested quietly, turning so that her back was facing them as she made to take off her sweater. It wasn't a big problem to be in just a tank top, but this is Hinata we're talking about. That is to be expected with her.

Kiba just barked in laughter. "It's not like we haven't seen that…"

A second after he said that, he immediately regretted it. Hinata looked over her shoulder to stare at him, a blush accumulating on her cheeks. She looked both embarrassed and angry. "Come again?"

Had Shino shown his face, there would be a little blush from his end. Kiba just bit his lip and raised his eyebrows as if he had no idea what she was talking about. Under that pale stare however, he broke.

"Ah, we kinda sorta… peakedinonthegirlsbathswhenwewentonthatvacationthingattheendofsenioryear."

There was a silence when Hinata turned back around to face them. To their great surprise, she only glared as she took off the sweater.

Now I believe it's time to issue a nosebleed alert. The pair of them tried anything to stop it from being obvious but they, especially Kiba, failed miserably. She quickly put on the plate-like armor over her head and rearranged it when it was on. That was do-able.

"Looks like Hina got some nerve." Kiba muttered, wiping his nose of the last of the blood. _And a body apparently…_

She just grabbed the red strip of fabric that Kiba had supplied for then to distinguish the teams and wrapped it a few times around her pale arm, tying it with the aid of her teeth. "We're all mature here," she said quietly, smiling sweetly as she dared to look at them, her closet pervert friends. "It… it's not like anyone can deny I'm a girl."

At around 1pm, Neji drove up with his caravan of Tenten and Lee. They seemed to already have been wearing their suits and the red ribbon was visible on them as they stepped out.

_Wow, we're a real team…_ Hinata thought, looking over them. The theme for them was black and red, with the red and black football and lacrosse under armor that differed from person to person and the black or grey pants everybody was wearing. And of course, the crimson ribbon signifying what team they were on.

"What's the team name?" Neji asked, grinning cockily. It was sort of odd, but he loved things like this.

They all thought for a moment before Hinata uttered a small "Oh!" as she got something. Despite all their eyes on her, she just turned to Kiba. "R-remember in sophomore year when we made those broomball teams for the pep rally?"

"Yeah!" he called, his face lighting up as he remembered. "We were the Boom Squad."

"Nah, we _are_ the Boom Squad." Tenten muttered, smiling her bright smile. "I like it. We are now _officially_ the Boom Squad!"

"Pound it!" Kiba called, shoving his fist in the middle of the circle they were in. They all bumped knuckles together and held them there for a minute until Kiba's cell phone rang.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura were sitting on the hood of Chouji's van that they had all fit into, looking over at their teammates. The color they had chosen was blue, and most of the armor they had collected was white or grey, making their color scheme blue and white-ish.

Sasuke was coolly leaning against a tree by the place they had decided to park, Chouji was busy tying his blue ribbon like a headband, Ino was busy putting up her hair to it was more secure and Shikamaru was fiddling with the barrel of the paintball gun he was given. They were on the direct opposite side of the forest that the Boom Squad was on, which made it fair.

"Hey Naruto," Ino muttered, her hair tie in her mouth. "What's our team called?"

Naruto opened his mouth stupidly, having not given that matter any thought. Sure, they had thought to coordinate their colors, but didn't have a name.

"How about… eh…" Sakura muttered, biting her lip. "Team…"

As she thought about it, leaving her word suspended in air, Chouji finished tying his headband with a gruff "Awesome,"

"Team Awesome!" Naruto called, pumping his fists in the air. "Sweet, that'll work."

"Oi," Shikamaru called from where he was sitting on the ground cross-legged. "How is this going to go down?"

"Eh? We're going to shoot them…"

Ino knew where Shikamaru was going with that. "No, like are we playing a certain game?"

Naruto tilted his head in slight confusion. "We're playing paintball!"

Deciding he needed to step in before Naruto made himself out to be even _more_ stupid, Sasuke spoke. "No dobe… we can't just shoot at each other without some sort of structured plan."

Ino giggled girlishly. "Nicely said Sasuke-kun!"

Looking blank, Naruto stared at his normally quiet friend. "Do you have anything in mind?"

Naruto was a little wary of Sasuke, especially after their conversation over AIM a week ago. Did he like Hinata? He sort of needed to know because his whole plan depended on it. There was nothing really different in his behavior except for the odd smile now and then in weird times.

Like, when Naruto and Sasuke walked to the beach together yesterday, the blond was muttering about a really spicy thing he had for lunch, and Sasuke _chuckled_. For no reason, as he never laughed at things Naruto said. The only way to describe his behavior was _weird_.

In response to Naruto's paintball inquiry, Sasuke shrugged. "There was one way I played once during Track…"

Looking around for help, he noticed that nobody else in his group had been on the Track team. "It wasn't paintball, but it was with nerf guns. We had teams of ten, and one person on each team was basically the prince or princess that the others needed to protect. Everybody else had 5 lives, meaning one life each hit, and the royalty had only one and if they got hit, the game was won for the other team."

Ino raised her eyebrows at him. _That was the most I have ever heard him speak!_

Team Awesome thought about it for a moment before Naruto nodded. "That'll work. So, who's going to be our royalty?"

They all looked around at each other before Sakura looked like she was hit by inspiration. "We need to call them and tell them the plan. Naruto, call Kiba."

"On it."

* * *

Kiba held the phone to his ear, frowning slightly. "Uh huh. Yeah. Team Awesome? That's uncreative… Psh, we're the Boom Squad… Well it's better than yours!"

The team listened to their leader's bickering for a while before Lee got impatient. "Why did they call?"

Shooting him a look that said 'I know!' Kiba tried to get down to business. "Naruto, why'd you call?"

On the other line, Naruto started laughing. "'Cause we need to put together rules."

"Rules?"

"Yes, rules. We propose a game of Protect the Royalty!"

Kiba and Neji both knew what that was, so Neji gathered the rest of the group to tell them of the game, while Kiba talked to Naruto,

"Ok… so five hits and then you're out? Except for the royalty, I know… we have to have an honor code or something. If you got hit, you're hit, and if you got five, you're out."

"So, we think the clearing in the middle's good for an 'out' place, when you die." Naruto responded scratching his chin, though Kiba couldn't see it. "Oh, and no switching the royalty in the middle of the game, that's just unfair."

Kiba agreed, nodding to Hinata, which kind of meant for her to take the phone. She motioned for him to not give it to her, and Kiba silently pleaded in response. She just shook her head harder, as if trying to finalize it. Finally he gave up and tossed the phone to Tenten.

While they talked about more rules, Kiba beckoned the group together in a huddle. "Okay… Tenten's not going to be royalty because we need her to be on offense and able to take hits. I won't be either because I have a score to settle with Naruto…"

"We should move in teams." Neji suggested, shrugging his shoulders. "You know, to pick off loners."

Shino shook his head. "We should stay together."

"I agree with Shino-san," Lee muttered, giving him a nod. "If we're a big group, then as soon as they fire, one person will know where it's coming from."

'But… but then we'd be easier to find." Hinata said, sounding almost scared. "If they manage to get us all into a trap, we'd be sitting ducks."

Neji looked at his cousin, noticing her uneasiness. "Hinata, how about you be the princess?"

"She already is…" Kiba chortled, making Hinata's face fall. _Real mature Kiba-kun…_

"I… I'd just mess it all up…"

Tenten, now rejoining the group, put her arm around Hinata's shoulder. "Hinata, you don't have to be princess…"

"I'd prefer if she was actually…" Neji muttered, avoiding eye contact with his cousin. "These hits hurt, and you're not used to contact sports…"

It was true; Hinata was on the tennis team in senior year. There was not a lot of contact besides maybe getting hit by the ball.

"I'm not some little helpless priss!" Hinata defended, quoting herself from the adventure at the restaurant with the Shinigami Akane.

"Hina…" Kiba muttered, looking at her sadly. He personally wanted her to be out of the real war zone as well. She was not the girl for a battle like that, and should always be protected. That's what he had always thought, growing up with her.

"And plus, they'd suspect it'd be me!" she stated, biting her lip. Honestly, she wanted to be in the game for once, to be a protector, not be protected.

"Ah, or they'd suspect it _not_ to be you because it's too obvious for us to pick you." Lee said, locking his rather large eyes with her pale ones.

Tenten laughed quietly, looking between Lee and Hinata. "Well, if you say that, then they would think it was the obvious person because they think we think she's too obvious and so using her would be the best choice."

"Not helping Tenten…" Neji muttered, still going to the ends of the earth to be protective of the girl he thought of as his sister. "Who votes Hinata?"

To her despair, Neji, Kiba, Lee and Shino all raised their hands. "That's a majority Hina…" Kiba muttered, relieved that it had turned out like that.

Tenten just looked at her friend and shrugged.

"Don't worry Hinata-san, we'll protect you." Lee muttered, smiling so brightly that a glint reflected off of them.

Kiba smirked. "With our lives."

Hinata tried to frown, but just couldn't. A pretty smile broke out over her face. "Fine, but don't blame me when we lose j-just because i trip over a root or something..."

* * *

As they talked strategy, Kiba went to his car and took out three guns, one big, heavy one that he gave to Shino, another Uzi-type one he put by his feet, and the last little handgun he handed to her.

She looked it over, internally glad that it wasn't heavy like Shino's. She looked at the red paintballs that filled the storage part to the brim and smiled. It was a really deep, bloody red. Not that she was into that sort of stuff, but she thought that if you were going to have a fake war, you should make it as realistic as possible. When their paintballs hit 'Team Awesome', it would be one fake, bloody mess.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she turned a large 270 degrees to see Tenten, who had reached around her back to confuse her. "Nani?"

Tenten beckoned her to follow, leading her to the passenger side of Neji's car. Opening the door, she reached into her bag and grabbed a small slip of paper that seemed to have a map on it and handed it to Hinata.

"What's this for?"

"This my dear, is a map." Tenten muttered, stating the obvious. "You know how to tell which direction you're facing right?" Hinata nodded and she continued. "It's a treasure map, just in case you get in a pickle."

Hinata tilted her head, looking at the spiky red 'X' that was in the southeast area of the circular enclave. "What's there?"

"I hid a few extra guns and a few rounds of paintballs by a rock, it's specified on the map… If we all get taken out, or we change plans drastically and you have to run, go there and at least be more armed than that tiny little pistol you got there." Tenten explained, wrapping her long red ribbon around her neck like a scarf.

"Okay… arigatou, Tenten."

Her double bun-clad friend clapped her on the shoulder. "Don't worry… they might think you're fragile but I know better. When the time comes, you'll show them what you're made of."

Hinata smiled a weak smile and tucked the little slip of paper under her red armband, having nowhere else to put it. "I'm just scared that something's going to happen and it's going to be, like, me against half of them…"

"Hey," Tenten muttered, starting to lead the pair of them back over to the boys. "The best burn brightest when circumstances are at their worst."

"I certainly hope you're right…"

"What are you guys doing over there?" Kiba asked suspiciously, eyeing the two girls. Neji and Lee gave Tenten a knowing look, having obviously been in on it.

Tenten just smiled at him lightly, shrugging. "Girl stuff."

Admittedly, Hinata was getting nervous. This was starting to sound really serious and intense, and she did not like it one bit. In order to get away from the stares that she thought were aimed at her, she wandered over to Kiba's car where she took a sip from the water bottle she brought and left in the cup holder.

A corner of red was seen poking out of the glove compartment, so out of curiosity Hinata opened it and saw another ribbon. Fingering it lightly, she marveled at its silken feel. Akamaru was lying by Kiba's feet as he checked out his guns and other's that were near him. Wait, where was _his_ banner?

Feeling an odd sense of moral justice, she gripped the cloth tightly and jogged over to Akamaru, a determined look on her normally calm face. Kiba looked at her as she crouched by his dog, wondering what she was doing. He smiled when she saw her fastening it like a collar around Akamaru's white, furry neck.

"You're on this team too buddy…" She muttered, rubbing his ears as she finished. "Let's win this together, okay?"

The Boom Squad couldn't help but smile at her antics. She was the rock of their team, the innocent, the one all of them would give anything to protect. Having her as a gem to guard was going to give them extra strength, since none of them wanted to see her get hurt.

She was a real life princess.

"Hey," Tenten muttered, causing all eyes to swivel to her. "Let's kick ass."

Kiba's phone rang, causing them all to jump. "Are we ready?"

Naruto's loud voice could be heard over the line. "Hell yeah. Ready for the countdown?"

"Go."

"Five."

Hinata stood, one hand holding her gun and the other one Akamaru's head. She turned to face the dark unknown of forest, gulping audibly.

"Four."

Shino and Neji both decided to flank her, giving five feet of space between her and them. Smiling lightly, she looked at Neji who cocked his gun in response.

"Three."

Lee slung his gun over his back, glad to have the one with the strap. He would be able to run and then quickly swing it around to his front to go on the offensive. Very efficient.

"Two."

Licking her lips, Tenten strolled lightly until she was behind Hinata, to whom she gave a smirk. Even though she was the only girl who was not a bet, she still wanted to be just as much in this game as them.

"One."

Leaping over Akamaru, Kiba took his place at the head of the Boom Squad, putting on a pair of black aviator sunglasses as he held his phone high in the air. "WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK WE ARE?"

Kiba's quote from _Tenga Toppa Gurren Lagann_ emboldened Hinata; it was a mecha anime they stumbled upon when they were lazily hanging out. One episode and they were hooked, and it was arguably both of their favorite anime.

That was the favorite saying of the Gurren-Dan team, and was now a favorite saying of the pair of them.

Hinata started screaming in response to Kiba. The pair of them started a battle cry that, all the way across the way, Team Awesome heard. After they finished, there were no more feelings of discontent in the Boom Squad; the immense spirit that Kiba and later all of them had shown had quashed all.

Though none of them could hear, Naruto laughed over the phone. Before hanging up, he muttered a phrase that only Hinata seemed to hear.

"Game on."

* * *

**Just ftr, I added the Gurren Lagann reference because it is one of the greatest animes that I have ever seen. I cannot describe in words the godliness that is Gurenn Lagann. Better/different than Naruto in my opinion and that is saying a lot considering, here I am, writing a fan fiction on it.**

**Tenga Toppa Gurren Lagann is the most amazing mecha anime I have ever seen. It unbelievably makes up for every mediocre mecha show that tarnished the good name of people fighting in giant suits of highly advanced technology.**

**It made me _think_ and stay up late laying in my bed, thinking about some of the concepts that that show goes over. It focuses on humans and how they destroy when they grow, and how to deal with it. It is so ridiculously relevant to present times. I highly recommend watching it, especially because it's only 27 episodes and will not take up much of your time.**

**Also, I find it necessary to say that I was in love with Simon (Sheemon!) even when he was a little kid, just in case anybody even bothers to take heed of what I have said and watch this incredible show.**

**All right, back to Naruto! Hope you liked this one, because I had fun writing it. Reviews are very nice if I do say so myself… but I'm not making you do it, just suggesting I suppose…**

**Scenes from the Next Episode:**

**"Never underestimate a girl with a gun. In her case, many guns."**

**"Live on."**


	9. Harbinger of Hostile Hunting part two

**Holy _mother_, this is a long one. Seventeen pages on a word document! I was really on a roll!**

**Naruto does not belong to me, and I'm glad of that, now that I think about it. All you followers of Shippuuden anime and manga, I'd change it up a lot and then it would lose its prestige as being a good story. So, these characters don't really belong to me… at all. All their paint-ball guns, Hinata's Porsche, one of Sasuke's shirts and Hanabi's electric blue nail polish belong to me though…**

* * *

The woods were quiet, with the obvious exception of the cracking of twigs and brushing of leaves as the Boom Squad passed. Far from being intense, for Hinata this was just _boring_. They moved slowly, trying to make their way on the edge of the forest so as not to walk into an all around trap. Every now and then they would send Akamaru on a small scouting mission, just to make sure there was no one in the area they were about to walk into.

_We're playing defensively… _Tenten thought quickly, casting a glance at Kiba who was at the head of their group. _This is what we get for making Hinata the princess! Everyone here wants to protect her, so we aren't even thinking about attacking!_

As if echoing her thoughts, Hinata cleared her throat lightly. "Kiba-kun… this won't work."

Kiba turned to face her, his aviators reflecting the sun. "What are you talking about Hina?"

They all stopped walking to look at her curiously. She blushed at having all the attention all of the sudden. _That's what I get for speaking up I suppose. _

"Well… t-this game will not get anywhere if we just keep to the sides. It… it hasn't even started really and we're _already_ on defense."

Kiba leaned one hand on his hip as he looked at her. Everybody else except for Tenten frowned, casting their glances at their self-elected leader.

"She's right!" Tenten called, throwing the hand not holding her rifle up in the air. "We shouldn't be living in fear that Hinata is going to get hit, we should be going forth to end the game sooner!"

Although they didn't feel like admitting it, Kiba, Neji, Shino and Lee knew she was right.

"Fine we—"

A small rustling from twenty feet into the forest cut off Kiba's statement. In a flash, all of them raised their guns and pointed them at wherever they thought it was coming from. The tension was now so thick it_ couldn't_ even be cut with a knife. Kiba slyly moved so he was in front of Hinata, motioning with his hand behind his back for her to crouch down.

Going down to a level that was a foot below Akamaru's head, she rubbed his neck softly, assuring herself more than him. She was definitely no longer bored. From her position she could see through the forest of legs in front of her to look at the bushes. Was that a flash of pink she saw?

_Pink._ Three guesses who it was, and the first two don't count…

Suddenly a shot ran out, followed by a small scream. Tenten had seen Sakura too and with her impeccable aim, shot into the dark foliage successfully.

Sakura, sporting a bloody-looking explosion of paint smack-dab in the middle of her chest, stood and tried to run, her white and blue armor sufficiently slowing her progress as she tried to dart through the trees.

Neji's face shone with a determined grin as he started to run after her, quickly becoming swallowed up by the thicket of green leaves. Kiba made a move to follow but was stopped when Tenten grabbed the back of his armor, growling as she pulled him back.

"NO!"

Kiba gasped for breath, starting to fall backward as Tenten's throw propelled him further back than he anticipated. He hit the ground hard, causing Hinata to go to his side, muttering "Kiba-kun!"

Tenten had apparently assumed the role of leader now. It seemed that Kiba didn't seem up to it. "Do not run after them! We need to think this out actually, instead of just running blindly in like that baka just did!"

"Tenten…" Hinata softly muttered, suddenly worried about her cousin. This was all being put into perspective for her; Neji was running into a trap!

The brunette was now pacing, keeping a constant eye on the trees.

"Okay…okayokayokay… Lee, come with me, we need to back him up." She was wringing her hands, with her rifle now slung over her shoulder with the strap across her chest. Her brown eyes were set with an odd fire. This really was her zone. "Kiba, Shino, start heading north. We'll meet back up with you guys. We were bound to split up anyway."

"Hai… don't die Tenten." Kiba muttered, picking himself up and cocking both of his guns.

Tenten just smirked as Lee started forward. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

Hinata's hands were getting sweaty, making holding on to her gun taxing. She couldn't deny how scared she was now. After Lee and Tenten had left in the direction Neji bolted, a stony silence had quickly ascended.

Something didn't make sense though. Hinata knew that their strategist was Shikamaru, the uncertified genius, and she also knew how he thought. Traps were his specialty.

How did she know? It was embarrassing for her to admit, but Hinata truly loved video games, strategy ones in particular. _Advance Wars_ was a personal favorite, which required her to control different types of troops and use them to siege another person's base. Using artillery and long range was her specialty. Just to add a little more _nerd_ to her whole persona, Hinata played online, fighting and beating other players. Funnily enough, through some careful deduction, she realized that Shikamaru played as well.

He always narrowly defeated her, excelling at using Fog of War to set traps for her infantry units and raining hell from mountainous and forested terrain. Something she knew was that he would not risk giving away his position for just one unit, in this case Neji. There was an underlying motive for the Sakura ploy…

_He wouldn't do this… something's wrong. _She thought, suddenly wary of her surroundings. Was that a rustle in the leaves?

_No, it couldn't be!_

"Kiba-kun, we need to move!" She cried, standing quickly. Her attempt to pull him along was proving futile as he just stared at her. If her assumptions were correct, Sakura had left, leaving one or two people _still_ there, waiting for their chance.

"It's a trap for us!"

As she said this, blue shots started coming from two spots. She tried to make a break for it, but knew she couldn't go in the open. "Kiba, move!"

Kiba and Shino were stunned, unable to do anything. The former could only watch in horror as his friend was quickly made into the target, receiving five hits in no time. It had been a silent assassination. The rain of shots started on Kiba, who was brought back to his senses as one hit his chest.

More or less picking her up, Kiba started running along the fringe as Akamaru went into the area where the shots were coming from, barking his booming bark. It all stopped, giving Kiba a chance to book it on out of there.

"Hinata…**-_pant_-** how did you know**-_pant_-** that it was a trap?" Kiba panted, still pulling her along as he ran. If he weren't wearing his sunglasses, it would have been obvious how scared he was now.

"I… well… Shikamaru always uses traps, and he never goes after one unit in particular." She started explaining, looking over her shoulder to see if they were being followed. They weren't. "So he must have planned to wait until we lost half of our team before taking out one of us at a time."

Kiba stopped short, looking at her oddly. He seemed as if he wanted to question her but she just grabbed his hand and pulled him eastward into the forest, away from the edge. "They… I think they heard what Tenten said, so they must be expecting us to head north."

He just nodded, dropping her hand and starting to full-out sprint. Kiba was now confused for Hinata was suddenly busting out all these strategic ideas that no one would have thought she would even _think_. She said it all in her quiet, soft voice, so it wasn't as if she was possessed or something of the like. It was weird.

"Slow down Kiba…" She muttered getting tired of the pace they were cruising at. He stopped and leaned against a tree, glancing warily around his surroundings. Dropping to the ground, Hinata tried to catch her breath, painfully aware of how loud she was being.

It was a while before he spoke. "We should stop moving. Stay here for a bit and think of a plan."

She nodded, mentally cursing the armor for being so heavy and bulky. They were in a thicket heavy with trunks good for cover from enemy eye. Hinata lied back onto one of the trees and brought her knees to her chest as she thought. There were no sounds apart from the wind blowing through the trees.

The sun shone brightly through the leaves, casting beams of light in fun patterns down on them. A single spot was on her hand, warming it a little. She tried to grab at it, smiling when despite her quick snatch the spot was still very visible.

"Hey, Hina…" Kiba muttered, lifting up his shades to cast her a smirk. "Don't worry about anything, I'll protect you."

"J-just about as well as you protected Shino?"

* * *

Somewhere further northeast, Tenten and Lee were streaking through the trees quietly, trying to reach Neji. _Shit, of all the people to run, it had to be the one who was on Track!_

Lee looked over at his friend quickly, tilting his head down as if asking for permission. Through some odd sort of mind link, she knew he wanted to run ahead, considering he was much faster than her. Nodding, she slowed to a jog as he bolted ahead, quickly darting out of sight. Dropping down into a crouch, Tenten began on her own personal reconnaissance mission.

It was dangerous sure, but she was fully capable of taking care of herself. Her plan was to find Shikamaru, who was undoubtedly the strategic mind behind it all. _If Neji had just stayed put, we wouldn't have been separated like this! We would have just taken out Sakura and stayed in a group. Fuck._

Once the lazy genius was found, she would personally take him out, thus chopping off the head of the team. Pretty full proof plan.

Her wandering had taken her to a hilly area of the zone. _Maybe that's their base. _She wondered, dropping even lower to the ground, making herself nearly invisible. Going into a military crawl, she pulled herself up the hill, using the trunks as hand and footholds. Adrenaline surged through her veins as she reached the top and saw a familiar pineapple-top hairstyle. _He's here._

Shikamaru, clad in white and blue armor and with a little handgun at his feet, was sitting on a rock; talking to someone she couldn't see. With any luck, he was the royalty and Tenten would win this for the Boom Squad.

"You got Shino, but Hinata and Kiba got away?"

_What!? What happened?_ She thought quickly, risking perhaps being seen as she crawled closer, hiding herself under a large fern. How did he know?

"What's your progress?"

_Fuck! They have headsets!_ She realized quickly, finally getting a glimpse of his face. _That's how they're so organized!_

Silently taking her gun off of her back, she placed it neatly on the ground before grabbing at her belt. She thanked Lee now for having the forethought to bring walkie-talkies, even if it was only one set. She had placed the other one with the cache she left for the royalty, in case they would need it.

_If I can figure out what frequency they're on… I can listen in on what they're saying. That'll be more useful than knocking out Shikamaru immediately. _Wincing at the spike of noise it made once she switched on the walkie-talkie, she deliberately locked it so it was constantly listening to others, but not picking up any sound from her end.

The first notch on the frequency counter was nothing, as was the second and third. She got excited at the forth one, but then realized that it was just picking up on a radio station nearby. _Come on… work for me…_ She silently willed, chancing a glance at Shikamaru, only thirty feet away.

At the seventh one, she heard a familiar, low voice. Sasuke was trying to talk to Sakura.

"Sakura, Sakura! Where are you?"

She responded, but it was blurry as she was running. "I'm not sure." There was a huge amount of fuzz that blocked out what she said next, but Tenten thought she heard _Neji_.

"I'm like… uh…. 100 feet away from the trap now… Lee's with him and they're both _fucking_ fast… SHIT!"

She thought she heard Naruto respond. "Sakura-chan, what happened?"

"I'm at four hits guys… they keep shooting!"

"Just make it to the trap." Sasuke muttered back.

"Yo forehead," Ino called loudly, making Tenten hasten to turn down the volume. "Don't mess up now… Naruto and Sasuke-kun can take them both out if you just get to them!"

Chouji then grunted in agreement. "Shikamaru, me and Ino are making our way back… Kiba sent Akamaru to distract us and then he got away in the opposite direction, so we didn't follow either of them. Smart dog…"

Tenten saw Shikamaru smirk. _They're coordinating their attacks flawlessly… Shikamaru needs to be gone._ _But I need to know what happens to Lee and Neji._

"I see you Sakura-chan…" Naruto muttered quietly. "Start zigzagging, it's harder for them to hit you. Saw them do that in _28 Weeks Later_."

"Oh yeah," Ino responded, laughing. "That was some scary shit. Can't wait for the next one, right Sasuke-kun?"

Tenten shook her head at Ino's ever-constant flirting. Seriously, it was impossible for her to switch off.

There was a small silence where nothing was heard before Sasuke called the shot. "Alright, Naruto, start shooting… now!"

As he said that, there was a cacophony of sounds over the headsets as they all heard the trap being set off. It sounded as if someone had let off some firecrackers right next to the microphone. _Those sound fully automatic! Those must be some major league toys…_ She thought bitterly, wondering where they had gotten them.

When it was all done with Tenten waited anxiously for someone to say something. She had heard a small click over the radio, but what did that _mean_?

"Sasuke… hey Sasuke!" Shikamaru called, obviously as impatient as she was. "Troublesome guy… hey, did you get them?"

"Yeah, Lee and Neji are down."

"But Sakura-chan got her last hit… she turned off her radio when she was out. They're all in the middle zone now, with Shino."

Tenten let out a little moan. _That's what you get for running baka!_ She was glad she hadn't followed Lee, for she would have ran right into the trap.

"It's three against five now…" Chouji muttered.

_Not for long…_

Grabbing her trusty paint-rifle, Tenten propped the barrel on a root to hold it steady. She aimed directly for the main headset piece in Shikamaru's ear. _This'll hurt._

Her finger found the trigger lightly as she rearranged herself. This gun had to be re-cocked after every shot, but she could do it. Getting up and lugging around the armor would burden Shikamaru, and as a plus he didn't know where she was hiding. She couldn't only shoot once, for he might _not_ be the prince.

_This is for Neji and Lee!_ She squeezed the trigger quickly, striking him exactly to disconnect his headset. As he shouted out and put his hand to his ear, she cocked it again and hit him in the arm, then again on his back as he turned and tried to run. One more expertly aimed shot got him in the back of the knee causing his leg to crumple, which in turn tripped him up.

Getting up quickly, Tenten ran swiftly to her fallen target who still needed one hit. He looked back at her, brown eyes on brown. Tenten held up the rifle and looked through the sights, making her accuracy more than 100 percent. "You're out Shi-ka-ma-ru."

The last shot pelted him right on top of the thoracic vertebra, the blood-red paint bursting explosively.

"Shikamaru!" Tenten turned on the spot 180 degrees to see Ino and Chouji about 50 feet away. Ino raised her rather large gun and pointed it at her.

"Shit," Tenten muttered, cocking her gun and letting loose the shot straight at Ino, who screamed as it hit her gut.

_She's too slow on the uptake…_ Tenten muttered, getting off another shot on Ino before having to evade ones from Chouji. _I've got to get out of here._ She was afraid of Chouji, not wanting to cross him. Turning back around, she bolted out of the area, but not without receiving a hit on her back, probably from him. Sliding down the steep hill, she tried to zigzag the best she could, hearing shots rain down on her. An explosion of blue suddenly appeared not five inches from her right hand as she grabbed a trunk and swung herself around it. _Need to head north, that's where I told them to go…_

Peering around the trunk, she saw Ino and Chouji staying on the top of a hill, wary of a possible trap. Shikamaru was slowly making his way down to the circle of people who 'died'. He saw where she was and stuck his tongue out, at which she just flicked him off. Tenten was relatively safe now.

* * *

Kiba and Hinata, however, weren't so lucky. At about 4:30 pm, Sasuke and Naruto came and stopped 20 feet from them. They were apparently awaiting orders over their headsets…

_Shit, why didn't we think of headsets?_ Kiba thought angrily, holding his hand over Hinata's mouth to cover up her ragged, terrified breathing. He leaned over to her and whispered in her ear as softly as he could.

"Don't move."

"We could beat them… it's only two on two." She whispered back, removing his hand with her own. A scary thought, but it was true. They _could_, with luck beat them.

"They could have reinforcements covering for them…"

She nodded and bit her lip. _I should just leave all the planning to Kiba-kun.._.

"What? Shikamaru got out?" Naruto's ringing voice trumpeted, obviously angry.

Kiba quickly pressed his whole body on top of hers, covering her _and_ taking up less space. She blushed quickly, not knowing what the hell he was doing. "Kiba-kun?"

He just shushed her quietly, his shades falling off and landing in her lap. She clutched them gently, wanting to hold onto something that wasn't the best friend who was practically straddling her.

"Tenten? You only hit her once and she got away?" Sasuke asked, presumably into his headset.

_This is good; we'll get some information. _Kiba thought quickly, waiting for more.

"Ino, Chouji, head in our direction, Tenten is good enough to pick you off if you stay in one place. We still have the advantage here." Naruto said, taking over Shikamaru's position of playmaker.

_I guess Neji and Lee got Sakura after all… they just got hit as well. _Kiba realized. _So it's four against three._

"I'm assuming Hinata is their royalty…" Sasuke muttered, his voice closer than it was last time. They were moving around the clearing. What if he saw them?

Naruto laughed, "Of course she is!"

Under Kiba, Hinata felt herself get angry. They all thought she was a princess too?

"We're in this area with a bunch of thick trees, it's sort of near the center… kind of. North-ish." Naruto stated, and they could hear them sitting down.

_Ok, so both Kiba-kun and Tenten have only four lives left… _Hinata thought, trying to make sense of this all. _I have one_. _We have no idea what their statuses are. Now all four of them are grouping up here, and we can't really run because it'll make too much sound. _

She waited for Naruto to start talking about something before speaking in a whisper. "What do we do?"

Kiba didn't respond. She waited a few moments before frowning and muttering, "We n-need to get out of here."

He slowly pushed himself off of her, moving at a turtles pace as he stood up. "I know what I'm doing. Once I run in, make a break for it, okay?"

She did not know what he was planning to do, but she didn't like it. "What are you going to do?"

He didn't respond; he only raised both his guns. Her anxiety was building to epic proportions now.

"Kiba-kun… you can't! You… you'll get hurt!" She whispered frantically, standing and grabbing at his chest armor. He couldn't leave her after giving his word like that.

"Hina…"

"N-no! You said… you said you'd protect me!"

"I am."

He answered with such passivity that she almost started crying. _Why am I getting so emotional all of the sudden? This game is metaphorical… that's what it is!_

All he did was bump his forehead against hers affectionately, as he always did. "Live on."

It happened so quickly. Kiba jumped out of their spot and started raining hell down on Naruto, who was right in front of him. He shouted a war cry as Naruto got a hit on him, holding both guns up, channeling Vincent Valentine. He was enraged, and quickly got five hits on the blond, his rival, and the one person he wanted to knock off. Now it was just about taking as many people down with him as he could. Neither Naruto nor Sasuke had been ready for his onslaught, which was probably the reason that the blond got out.

As he turned to Sasuke, he had four hits, the fifth, sixth and seventh hitting him square in the chest by Sasuke's shots.

Hinata was frozen, unable to run as was instructed. _I could take out Sasuke-kun right now… but should I? I might not even be able to aim; my hand's shaking so badly._

She was a few seconds from leaning into view and shooting the dark-haired man, but then Ino and Chouji ran into the scene, with the former screaming something that had "Sasuke-kun!" in it.

Casting one last terrified look at her fallen comrade, Hinata picked up her little handgun and bolted north. She ran faster than she had ever before, thinking they were chasing after her. Spurred on by that thought, her speed now rivaled that of Sasuke and Neji's…

Tears were welling up behind her opalescent eyes out of aggravation and sadness for Kiba's sacrifice. This really was a war now. _What do I do? I have no idea if Tenten got out or not, but if she is still alive, I should be trying to find her. Even still, what can we do against them?_

Deciding to stop, she settled herself into a trunk after attaching her gun to her hip. Without anything better to think about, she pondered what Shikamaru had done exactly, before Tenten took him out. He must have sent a group of three to find them, and once that was achieved, made it seem like it was only one person, thus lowering their defenses. After Neji, Lee and Tenten ran after Sakura, the two who remained hidden went for Shino.

_Why Shino? If they all knew it was me via headsets, why didn't they just knock me out right off the bat?_ She wondered, looking up into the foliage. One answer presented itself; it was because there was no fun in that. If the game had ended in only an hour, a lot of people would be angry for making such a big deal about it.

So, Tenten, Lee and Neji ran after Sakura, which was also apart of Shikamaru's plan. There was another team of two who set up their trap in an area Sakura ran to, and once they entered would get shot up. It could be assumed that Shikamaru was alone based off of Tenten knocking him and only him out.

One of the remaining groups of two probably were making their way back to Shikamaru when they saw Tenten and opened fire, but she had gotten away. Now there were three of them who were in a group, hunting for her and wary of Tenten. Fun stuff.

That wouldn't have been too bad of a situation if Hinata weren't one of the survivors. She was afraid of shooting her friends, and afraid of getting hit herself. Tenten was the expert at these things; she was most certainly not.

For the first time all day, Hinata heard some birds chirping merrily. It calmed her a little, enough for her to maybe shut her eyes and rest up. This was just a stupid game anyway.

Bad move.

Unluckily for our resident princess, Chouji had seen her dart away from her hiding place. Meaning that they were certainly hot on her trail, gun toting and figuratively out for her _blood._

* * *

Her eyes were heavy, threatening to fall and send her into the dark and pleasant abyss that was sleep. She might have a nice dream, maybe with Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun…

That _incident_ had been stuck in her mind like a thorn, one that spawned multiple roots that made doubly sure that it would stay there. When she shut down at the end of the day, when her mind was defenseless, the vision of the two gorgeous guys all over each other just popped up.

But, she reminded herself, thinking about that was not so outlandish; I mean she was a girl, a _teenage_ girl.

"Hinata…"

Hinata was drawn from her musings by a familiar voice. Opening her eyes, she was greeted with the sight of her friend.

But right now her friend was an enemy.

Ino was sadly smiling at Hinata, towering above with her gun in her hands. Two splotches of red paint were visible on her armor, shining in the sun that peeked through the trees. With her long blond hair and dark blue eyes, Ino was truly beautiful. Someone Hinata had grown up comparing herself to. And now here she was holding a gun to our heroine. Hah.

Said heroine didn't really register what was going on. She was still dazed and didn't realize that Ino was about to shoot her.

"Trust me, I don't want to do this…" Ino muttered, showing her friend a little smile. "But I told Sasuke-kun that I'd be the one who gets you. He's expecting it you see."

There was a mounting fear installing itself inside of Hinata. She was at gunpoint; she was about to lose the game, to let down everyone on the Boom Squad.

_No._

But why couldn't she move?

Ino cocked her gun loudly. "I can't let him down, No hard feelings right Hina?"

Hinata was frozen in fear, unable to move or put forth any reaction. _Kiba sacrificed himself for me… this is pathetic! He did all that only for me to let my guard down and get cornered…_

"Game over." Hinata shut her eyes as Ino made to pull the trigger. There was a shot and a cry, but no hit. She felt nothing impact her armor and certainly nothing made contact with her skin. Opening one eye slowly, she noticed a great mess of red paint on the tip of Ino's gun, near the edge of her barrel. _What happened?_

Looking as angry as Hinata had even seen her, Ino was glaring at something, _someone_ who was out of sight.

Another familiar voice rang out from somewhere to her right. "You were always one to put bros before hoes, Ino-_chan_…"

_Tenten!_

"Nice way to use your last shot…" The brunette now walked into view, holding out her rifle menacingly. "You had her _three feet_ in front of you, and your gallant shot hits a foot above her head."

Hinata quickly looked over her shoulder and saw a huge spot of blue over her right shoulder. Not exactly a foot away, more like five inches…

_Tenten shot at Ino's barrel, which made her aim off!_ Hinata realized quickly, smiling weakly at her savior. She didn't even remember that she had a gun and could take out Ino without any trouble. The three of them stayed in their spots for a few moments, waiting for another to make the first move.

Suddenly a silent shot hit Tenten in the shoulder, followed by another in the chest. The brunette tried to dart behind a tree to avoid them, but then realized that was a bad idea as more shots came from a different angle.

_Reinforcements…_ Hinata realized quickly, her heart pumping painfully. She had been saved again! That occurrence had been like an electric shock through her body, giving it energy to actually move. In doing so, she stood quickly and started to make a break for it past Ino.

From out of nowhere, Akamaru came pounding towards her barking loudly. Without prior planning, without even thinking about how the dog might react, she grabbed the makeshift collar and threw herself onto his back.

Tenten, now taking hits from unseen enemies from both directions, knew she was done for. She was out of shots and out of luck. "Hinata, run!"

Her scream echoed in Hinata's ears, making her lie flat on Akamaru in order to be more aerodynamic. _I have to get out of here, I have to survive. Tenten, Kiba, Shino, Lee and Neji-niisan have all fallen to give me this chance to survive and I will not mess this up!_

* * *

As they sped off, Hinata noticed that she _hated_ the armor. It was heavy and sweaty and bulky. She navigated Akamaru northward before stopping and dismounting to regain his strength and for her to come up with a plan. But first of all, the armor had to go.

"So much for safety…" She muttered to Akamaru as she loosened up the strings that secured the armor, undoing the knots with her skilled little fingers. When done with that, she heaved it with all her strength, aiming for the nearest clump of ferns.

_Hold up! I can use this!_ She thought quickly, managing to hold onto the armor by a string as she tried to stop her throw. He sudden move brought the bulky plastic right back at her, and she only just managed to sidestep it before it completely decked her. It skidded on the dry ground for a few feet, creating a small cloud of dust.

_I'm ashamed of myself. That was just embarrassing…_

Walking over to it, she grinned sadistically, glad that it was experiencing some torment after afflicting her so! Even though it was just an inanimate thing… Hey, everybody is allowed to unnecessarily wish ill onto a stupid object once and a while, even Hinata-hime.

After she was finished with her bout of anger, she picked it up lightly and strolled over to Akamaru, biting her lip as she got down to the nitty gritty. _How am I going to do this?_

She untied the bindings that held the whole thing together and laid it out on the ground flat. _If I tie this here, and then move this… _

After a few motions of trial and error, she finally figured it out. Showing a brief display of designing _brilliance_, Hinata had managed to create nothing short of a suit of armor for her… _Kiba's_ white dog. The dog's chest was covered by a piece that wasn't too big to hinder running, as were the plates on the thighs of his front legs. There was a small, triangular plate on his head that she managed to fashion into half-a-helmet, covering his forehead and dipping slightly between his eyes.

To finish it all off, she removed the long ribbon around his neck and ripped about a fourth of it off, taking the smaller piece and tying it around his tail for looks. She took the longer piece and, with clever weaving, managed to create a pretty improvised set of reins.

_And now I have a war stallion._

Once done, she sat down and tried to think things through. All of her fear had been lost as she went from a scared princess mindset to a survivalist one. _I need to win… They all think I'm so precious… I have to go and confront the problem, and then win. They shouldn't have underestimated me!_

With that heartening thought in mind, she slipped the slip of paper out from under her armband. _The southeast part, next to a large rock by a river…_ _I won't stand a chance if I can't make it there, but first things first…_

She felt a change coming over her. A sense of daring and heroism was coursing through her veins. She boldly decided to tie up her hair like Ino had always done, in a high ponytail. After that was done she unwound the red ribbon on her arm and instead wrapped it around her forehead holding her bangs out of her eyes.

_I need to be fearless like Kiba… as level-headed as Tenten… as cool-looking as Akamaru!_

She still had Kiba's sunglasses in her pocket and took them out lightly. After glancing at her reflection in the lenses, she rubbed them clean on her shirt and put them on, smirking as she did so. She looked like a mercenary now.

_Now I have to find those supplies, and then… then it's time for the little princess Hyuga to go Rambo on their underestimating little butts!_

* * *

Tenten put her chin in her hand angrily as she sat in the _pen_. Her fellows were Kiba, Neji, Lee, Shino, Sakura, Shikamaru and Naruto, all of whom were getting bored.

"She can't survive…" Neji muttered, lying on his back as he looked up at the cloudless sky. He glanced at his watch, registering the time as 6:47pm. "She might as well just surrender and avoid getting hurt."

"She's got Chouji, Ino and Sasuke hunting after her…" Sakura muttered, glancing at her now abandoned headset. "I don't know how she can hold out for long."

"You shouldn't underestimate her…" Tenten sighed, switching hands that held her chin. "Princess Boom Squad is now mounted."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Tenten smiled a knowing smile. "She rode out of the last fight on Akamaru's back, cruising at literally _inhuman_ speeds. Heh, she said it herself 'Let's win this together'…"

The Boom Squad knew she was referring to Hinata talking to Akamaru before the game commenced.

"It's not going to make much of a difference though…" Lee muttered. "What can she do?"

They were all silent for a few moments. "Just believe in her." Shino mumbled from where he was, leaning against a tree.

"Never underestimate a girl with a gun. In her case, many guns."

They all shot Tenten a look at she said this. As if on cue, Naruto's headset crackled with an incoming message. He had obviously forgotten to turn his off.

"Um… hello?"

"Speak of the devil, it's Princess Boom Squad." Naruto said, laughing as he prepared to respond. Shikamaru slapped his hand down, warning him not to with a face that obviously said 'you got out, dumbass…'

"W-well… I just wanted to say that… um… is anyone on?"

"We hear you Hinata," said Sasuke over the channel.

"Oh… well, hi there."

The circle of 'dead' people listened eagerly, now all listening to the nearest headset. None of them spoke out of respect for the rules.

"Hi," Chouji answered back, laughing.

"How'd you get a radio?" Ino asked lightly, echoing everyone but Tenten, Neji and Lee's thoughts.

"The Boom Squad left a cache of stuff in case… in case I ever have to go on my own… there was a walkie-talkie in it." Hinata's voice was so soft and sweet; it was hard to believe that she was running for her 'life' through a forest. Or so they thought…

"Surrender!" Sasuke shot, his low voice devoid of any emotion.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Hinata _laughed_. "You... you wish to surrender to me? V-very well, I accept."

The ex-warriors who were listening in on the conversation all laughed. It was admirable how Hinata could still be funny while having three people hunting for her very life. In the game of course...

None of the still-living Team Awesome responded immediately. Sasuke finally broke the silence but continuing what he had started to say. "We don't want to have to shoot you."

"Actually… actually I…" They all heard her take a deep breath. "I'm here to say that I will not back down!"

They all were surprised at the level of force and power in her voice as she said that. It was if she suddenly turned into Kiba. She seemed to get stronger and stronger as she willed herself on.

"You guys better fear for your lives, because I can't bear to look un-cool by giving up! No one is safe, even in numbers, when Akanata is loose! Over and **out!**"

There was a small silence before Sakura started laughing, having been the only one to ever see Hinata in this state before. When she put her mind to it, the mild-mannered heiress would fight to the end.

"Well Kiba…" Naruto laughed, clapping his friend on the back. "I think it's safe to say that Akamaru belongs to Hinata now. They've _combined_."

Kiba was in shock. Never in front of _him_ had she ever shown such determination before. It was a change that he didn't see coming, but liked it.

"_Don't worry… they might think you're fragile but I know better." _

"_When the time comes, you'll show them what you're made of."_

"_The best burn brightest when circumstances are at their worst."_

"_Live on."_

Maybe Hinata had actually _listened_ to what they had been saying to her this whole time. He felt accomplished, as if he had created this hunter. _My little Hina, off to destroy people… it's a proud day indeed._

Now armed with two more guns and a sniper, Hinata felt ready. She looked at her reflection in the brook and laughed at the oddity of it. Her tank top was small, but she didn't care about modesty right now. Her navel was showing, as well as a good portion of her hips as Kiba's pants hung low. She had attached her old little handgun to her thigh, her two new guns to her belt, and the sniper rifle was slung across her back, the strap sitting nicely over her chest. With her hair pulled into an Ino-esque high ponytail, the red headband and too-big aviator shades, she just emanated _badass_.

Something was missing though. What was it that always completed the look of the mercenaries in all the movies? Oh right, a _toothpick_.

Having no such thing, Hinata searched around the clearing for a small stick, and when she found none, went for a little, white, five-petaled flower, sticking it in her mouth and smirking. _I feel like Solid Snake… a really girly Snake…_

In the state she was in now, running off of sheer frustration and her rare but incredibly persistent will, she was invincible. But the remainder of Team Awesome did not know that, so they cockily attempted to hunt her down. They must have thought that her speech over the walkie-talkie was complete farce. Little did they know that they were slowly shifting from being the hunters to the hunted.

It would take some paint to the face for them to realize how deep of shit they were now in.

* * *

**AKANATA, GO FORTH!**

**I hope you guys got the 'The Princess Bride' quote I slipped in there. ;)  
**

**Ok, so I know that I planned to split this _game_ into two chapters… but here I am at the end of two chapters and I haven't even gotten into 'Hinata will kick all asses' mode yet!**

**So, a third will be coming. And trust me, it will be HELLA long. The longest one in the three as I flat out REFUSE to make this into a four-piece paintball match...  
**

**I tried to make this sort of reminiscent of, in the anime/manga, Hinata standing up to Neji in the chuunin exams and gaining courage to face up to her fears. It is also a lot like the Bikochu arc in which Hinata makes an independent stand, and Shino says 'believe in her.'**

**Thus, this really is Hinata's personality coming forth, only a little more Sleeper Cell style.**

**SO! Review please, because lately I have been starting to feel like you guys don't really like this fic as much as you did before since I'm not getting as many reviews. For the people who do almost every time, thank you so many times my mouth break if I said them all.**

_**Scenes from the next episode!**_

_**Unexplained fear is often the most horrific of all.**_

_**But alas, just because she was cute did not mean he wouldn't shoot her in the face.**_


	10. Harbinger of Hostile Hunting part three

**Here we go! This is the third installment of the paintball bonanza, and the last! I know, sad right?**

**But all good things must come to an end, however quick and unexpected that end may be.**

**Ah, just to make it more understandable, when (I don't want to give it away) _people_ are asked what happened, it is a flashback.**

**Not that you can't figure that out anyway…**

**YOSH! Naruto does not belong to moi, and I do not, in any way, make profit from writing this.**

* * *

"So, we move as a group?" Chouji asked Sasuke slowly, turning to face their new leader. After Shikamaru and then Naruto got knocked out, he had to assume the position.

Sasuke, who was leaning against a tree with his eyes out of focus, snapped out of his reverie to look at his old keeper. Chouji had played keeper on his varsity soccer team, and hadn't let more than three goals in the whole season.

Now refreshed with more shots, Ino had a score to settle. Not with Hinata, but with _Tenten_. You see the pair of them had never been the best of friends. In fact, there was rather open animosity from Ino to Tenten. Something about Tenten being good at everything and Ino being… not as good at everything.

So the chance was now open for Ino to finally beat Tenten at something, in this case paintball. Hinata was her friend, but she wanted to win, even if it meant shooting her. There were no more protectors for the Hyuga now, and Ino could fulfill her pledge to be the one who gets her.

"We won't be able to find her as fast!" Ino complained, pouting at Sasuke. "If we go individually, we can split up and then one-shot her down."

_Yeah, which is of course code for 'I want to be the one who gets her and you'll get in my way'. _Sasuke thought bitterly, deliberately not looking at the blond.

"Ino, that's dangerous." Chouji muttered, shaking his head at his friend's recklessness. "And what if she gets the upper hand?"

"Come on, this is Hinata we're talking about!"

"The same Hinata who has a mount and can now run faster than any of us…"

Ino was getting aggravated. "Sasuke-kun, what should we do?"

Still leaning against the tree, Sasuke didn't respond immediately. He seemed to be pondering something. "I agree… with Ino."

She cheered, sidling her way over to him and grabbing his arm. "Thank you Sasuke-kun! I think this is a sign that we should be together, don't you?"

"Hn," He shot his warning glance at her, stiffly taking his arm back.

"I just don't want to get hit and let the team down…" Chouji muttered, fondling with the barrel of his gun.

"She only has a one in three chance of finding you. Just stay out of sight." Sasuke said, getting off of the tree and walking to the middle of the clearing. He looked up at the sky, seeing a few wispy clouds but nothing else.

"Sasuke-kun… I'll win this for us, just you watch. Too bad you're not the leader so I don't get to kiss you, ne?" Ino gushed, licking her lips seductively.

_She is so ridiculous._

After he brushed off her comment, Ino went southeast, Chouji carefully headed west and Sasuke proceeded to go north, each beginning their search for the heiress.

* * *

Almost completely covered in red, blood-like paint, Ino sat against a rock with her legs pulled up to her chest. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, filled with fear. "That was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me…"

The residents of the 'circle of shame', who had all been waiting for her to tell them what happened, were finally about to get some answers. Ino had come into the circle in complete silence, which was creepy enough as it was. She just looked at her feet as she walked aimlessly, ending up by the rock she was at now.

Naruto, who was closest to her, eagerly scooted nearer. "What happened?"

"It… It's like she's possessed. I'm really afraid. That was not the Hinata I know…"

Neji and Sakura exchanged nervous glances. What did she mean by that?

"There was a moment where I feared for my life. I don't think that's Hinata… some devil possessed her. It was over so quickly, but…" Ino paused, biting her lip. "She took off her armor, put up her hair and somehow managed to have four guns on her… It scared me. Some evil force haunts her. I'm afraid for Chouji and Sasuke-kun."

"Ino-san, what happened?" Lee asked quickly.

Ino:

_I need to get Hinata out… I gave Sasuke-kun my word that I would!_ She was walking along, sticking to the trees and remaining out of the open. It seemed Ino was heading over to where Shikamaru got picked off by Tenten, because that hill would be a good sightseeing post.

The forest was relatively quiet, except for a few birds here and there. _I'll hear her if she passes. Good thing she's with Akamaru, that's just one more thing to make noise and give away her position. _

Ino didn't really believe Hinata's declaration of attack over the radios. She thought that she was saying that to try to intimidate them, to carry this game on just a little longer. It was because of this cocky thought that Ino walked with her head held high and her ego even higher.

It was when she was imagining her knocking out Hinata and proving to Sasuke that she was awesome when she heard _it_. A howl echoed around the area she was in, from far away.

_Are there wolves here? Why would they be howling anyway, it's more than two hours until sunset? _Ino wondered, obviously not making the connection. Shrugging it off, she jumped into a small brook, landing on a protruding rock in the middle.

Then the howl came again, this time _closer_ and _louder. _Ino looked over her shoulder warily, trying to conceal her mounting fear. She began to run now, but the faster she ran the more afraid she became. Deciding that her best bet was to be slightly in the open so she could see the wolf if it came after, she stayed away from the trees.

Fear obviously clouds judgment, as that was stupid as hell.

_I'm armed… if it comes after me, I can shoot it to get it to go away. Or that will make it even madder! Shit!_

The third howl came from, not behind her, but ahead. She could now hear the padding of heavy footfalls that seemed to be circling her, though remaining out of sight.

In her fear, she didn't realize what happened when Akamaru burst out of the bushes with Hinata on his back. She was holding on with her knees as she held two guns in front of her.

It was like slow motion for Ino, who could not move out of fear. 'Akanata' looked _incredible_ with his red and black riding armor and her wielding four guns as well as Kiba's sunglasses. Incredbily_ intimidating._

With no discernable expression on her face, Hinata unloaded a grand total of 20 shots on her adversary as she circled around, riding Akamaru speedily like an expert jockey.

Once the deed was done and Ino was completely 'bloody', Hinata slowed Akamaru's pace to a trot. Her white eyes met Ino's blue as she looked over her shoulder. Ino was standing right where she had been when Hinata first caught her, her mouth stupidly open. The blond did not have the ability to move a muscle, unlike the dynamic duo of woman and beast.

Even when Hinata tossed a small, crumpled piece of paper at her, Ino just let it bounce off her face. It fell loftily to the ground while Hinata just observed her kill with a frown. She stayed mounted on armored-Akamaru for a few moments before squeezing her knees to put him into a walk.

Finishing with a motion of pure _badass_, Hinata took her shades off from the top of her head and placed them neatly on her nose before placing her guns on her hips and grabbing the reins, speeding off with her war-dog. The last Ino heard of them was the unmistakable sound of 'Akanata' crashing through the undergrowth.

_What… the… fuck?_

When Ino finally got over her shock, she fell to her knees, hands dragging in the dirt. Her heart rate slowed back to normal as she tried to comprehend what had just happened.

The note was by her right knee and she slowly handled it, unfolding it carefully. The message was in red paint, the same that was in the Boom Squad's paintballs.

_**Gomennasai, Ino-chan.**_

* * *

Ino finished the dramatic retelling of her tale, having regained her old sense of self back by the end.

"I still can't believe I didn't shoot her! I was just so… gah! I don't know!" She lamented, throwing her head back as she leaned on her hands.

"I honestly don't even know what to make of that." Naruto muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hyuga Hinata, a murdering paint monster? No way…"

"But she's _not_ though! She left me a note: '_Gomennasasi, Ino-chan._' that's still Hinata!"

Sakura, who was laughing all throughout Ino's encounter, smirked at her male blond friend. "When she puts her mind to something… like, really throws her all into something… there's nothing you can do to stop her."

"What do you mean, has this happened before?" Kiba asked quickly. It was _still _weird to him that his friend had this dark side.

"Well, it was a dark and stormy night…" Sakura started, dropping her voice to a low mutter. "Kidding, it was in sophomore year. Hinata and I were partners for a health project where we needed to research a doctor and we chose Tsunade-sama, seeing as how she's the most accomplished surgeon in this country. When it came time for the interview, we went to her hospital and asked to see her on what we knew was the day she didn't work, and they said that she was there but we couldn't speak with her. For absolutely no reason, mind you."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Tenten asked lightly, cocking her head.

"I'm getting to that. When we were denied, Hinata just stood there frozen before getting sort of angry. Saying something about 'We spent so much time researching her!' she just walked back up to the man and _demanded_ to see her. After ten minutes of Hinata verbally beating him down, he let us through. He was nearly in tears by the end of it. Then, she just snapped out of it and went back to her normal docile self! It was weird." She finished lightly, her gaze flicking around but ending on Kiba.

"I think _weird_ is a good way to describe this…" Kiba growled, suddenly getting aggravated and throwing himself down on his back. Maybe it was the lack of Akamaru, but he seemed lost.

With the exception of Kiba, they all whipped around to see Chouji brushing aside a wayward branch to get to them. He had four 'wounds' on his armor and one directly on his forehead, marking a rather pretty-looking shot.

"Chouji! She got you too?" Ino asked, standing up quickly and running over to her friend who was walking in a daze. "That means—"

"Wait, Sasuke is your prince?" Neji asked quickly, narrowing his eyes. Little known fact, Neji didn't like Sasuke all too much and the feeling was mutual. They had been bitter rivals on the track team, with Sasuke beating him in the sprinting races by a hair and Neji narrowly beating him at the very long-distance races.

Shikamaru nodded. "We kept it a secret by using him for combat."

"That means that it's prince versus princess!" Ino called, finishing her point that was previously interrupted by Neji.

"Okay, this calls for a new rule!" Kiba called, picking up Sakura's abandoned headset and clicking it on, despite the rule of not being able to communicate. "Princess Hina and Prince Sasuke, do you come in?"

There was static over the line for a few moments before Sasuke spoke up. "Hai."

"Hina?"

They waited for a couple more seconds before making contact. It sounded as if there was a lot of air rushing past her walkie-talkie. "Uh… I'm here."

Ino and Chouji exchanged a knowing glance. It was interesting for them to hear the voice of their assassin, let alone being such a soft and small voice as hers. It was like a little twelve-year-old had been speaking into a walkie-talkie for the first time. But still, that girl had knocked them out of the game without saying a word… they shouldn't be poking fun.

Kiba smirked as she said that. "You two are the only people left. Just thought you'd like to know…"

"You mean Chouji and Ino…" Sasuke spat out, not needing to finish the thought.

"Princess Boom Squad knocked them out." Kiba laughed into the headpiece, glancing at the defeated pair. "I'd suggest running for your life, your highness…"

"Um… Chouji-kun and Ino, are you there?" Hinata asked, the rushing wind still present.

Ino leaped at Kiba to speak into the mouthpiece. "Yes we are."

"Oh… I'd just like to… further apologize for shooting you. I'm terribly sorry if you got hurt. T-trust me, I wouldn't have shot at you at all if I didn't have a whole team believing in me and willing me to win."

As she finished her little speech, the headset beeped loudly five times before shutting off completely.

Kiba, who had jumped away at the loud sound, examined it roughly. "It's out of batteries!"

The other members of Team Awesome checked theirs as well and came to the same conclusion. Naruto threw his across the enclosure on an impulse before shaking his head. "Now we won't be able to know what happens! It could already be over for all we know!"

A few of them nodded, but others just remained still and quiet.

It was Shikamaru who broke the silence. "Chouji, how'd she get you?"

* * *

Chouji:

_This is a bad idea… I knew this was a bad idea…_ Chouji chanted in his head, creeping warily through the trees. He looked directly above and found that he couldn't see the sun; it was hidden behind the trees by now. For being as big as him, he was incredibly good at keeping silent.

His plan was to slowly and cautiously make his way in one direction, keeping an eye out for Hinata and Akamaru. Every so often he would take a stick and throw it in front of him, just in case that would give away her position if she shot. It would give away his as well, but he was playing defensively anyway.

He vaguely took notice of the lack of animals like squirrels, assuring himself that they all were heading off to sleep, as night was… two hours away. Such logic didn't make sense, animals didn't retreat that early!

Being in his state of mild fear, he tried to fool himself into thinking all the little birdies and chippies had gone to sleep two hours early.

In fact there was something, a living and breathing creature that scared everything away. The little animals had never before witnessed the great, white, black, red, gun-wielding monster that now prowled stealthily through the mess of trees. In their fear of the unknown, all the creatures of the forest retired to their lodgings, hoping that 'Akanata' would soon leave them in peace again.

But this gun-toting 'Akanata' was not hunting them. No, its prey was far larger and ultimately far more dangerous.

Back on a human level, Chouji knew that he couldn't communicate with his team now that Hinata was on their frequency, but he still wondered how they were faring. For all he knew Ino got taken out and Sasuke was now being hunted!

"HawooOOOOooooo!"

His breath caught as he heard the howl. It sounded some distance away, though not too far. _No, she's come after me!_ He thought suddenly, peering past the large tree that significantly hid his bulk from view. Well, from anyone looking at him from the north.

Chouji, unlike Ino, could easily piece together who and what the howl was. It was Akamaru, for there were no wolves in this place. _She's trying to intimidate me! _

Crouching low, he strained his eyes to see as far as he could into the shadowy forest. The sun was slowly setting though it still hung visibly in the sky. Small silhouettes of trees started appearing, telltale signs of night approaching.

_Why am I getting nervous? This is Hinata we're talking about… she isn't a hunter. I should have nothing to fear. _

Ah, but dearest Chouji forgot about the_ trait_ that Hyugas carried. They, when it is beneficial to them, can instill an unexplainable fear in ones heart. Probably from those eyes that seemed to penetrate deeper than they should, reading everything. It was because of these eyes that Hyugas intimidated so well, and how they were so good at making people fear them. Unreadable, fathomless, _infinite_ eyes…

Even their innocent heiress had this power, this _ability_.

_I have the night on my side. If I just stay still, I'll blend into the shadows and be able to see her coming. No need to fear. _Chouji tried to convince himself, though not quite succeeding as well as he hoped.

Again a howl broke the silence, louder this time around. It came from a different area, from the north instead of from the east as before. _She's trying to circle around me while coming near. But why give away her position with the howling?_

Resting his back against the tree trunk, he closed his eyes and tried to listen to the forest around him. A shift of leaves here and there, the whistle of the wind… then he heard it: the unmistakable sound of four feet padding along to the north of him. _They're north, they can't see me. But Akamaru can smell me can't he? Shit!_

Just like that, despite the enemy being far away and in a place that was impossible to get him from, the Hyuga had managed to make Chouji start to fear her. His fear of getting shot, coupled with the fact that 'Akanata' did not need to use their eyes anymore and the dawning realization that Hinata would hold nothing back combined to plant a seed of fear that would only grow larger and mercilessly corrupt him.

_There's no reason to be afraid, none at all… she is_ _just trying to make me scared… _

_**And succeeding…**_A cruel voice in this head told him.

Breakings of twigs snapped close to him make him turn his neck sharply, mad eyes darting around. _What was that? She couldn't have gotten here without me realizing!_

The howl came again, but this time instead of behind him, it came from directly ahead. It was the loudest call yet… and the closet.

_She's in front, she can see me if she comes nearer… I need to move!_ Forgoing being quiet in exchange for speed, Chouji quickly relocated to the direct opposite of the tree, leaning back on it like he had done before.

His heart was beating painfully fast, each throb feeling like a punch to his throat. That's where he felt it, his neck. He had just cricked it after all, so there the strongest pulse resonated from. _I need to be silent… if I make a move, I'm dead. No! Why am I afraid of her?_

Poor Chouji. Unexplained fear is often the most horrific of all.

He couldn't believe she was destroying him mentally like this. Reduced to cowering behind a tree, waiting for the inevitable fourth howl that would surely signal his doom. Terrifyingly, he was unable to move, paralyzed by the panic coursing through his veins. Every shadow was the barrel of Hinata's gun, slowly creeping closer; every rustle of greenery was her brushing past, circling around.

There was a moment where he was _sure_ that she was directly behind his tree, preparing to jump around and take him out. In his overwhelming fear, reason and logic had given way to speculation and dread. _Why doesn't she just come out already? _Manic eyes dashed around, flashing between the trees and their limbs in the utmost fear.

_If she won't come out, I'll get HER!_

In the stupidest move of the entire game, including Ino missing Hinata from three feet away, Chouji jumped to his feet with a war cry. He circled around the tree twice, and cruel realization dawned when he found no one. In his fear he had imagined her and was pressured into making a move. Not that that had exactly been her plan, but it now put him into the open.

The forth howl never came. Chouji was not prepared for what happened in its place. A single shot was fired loudly from directly in front of him, coming out of the darkness. He did not see it until it was a mere two feet away, in which case it was too late.

It hit his forehead straight on, placing itself nicely in the middle of his headband. A perfect shot… incredible. Hinata Hyuga was a natural sniper. After the initial knock-back into the tree, he slid down to the roots, his gun slipping from his hands.

Nothing happened for a few seconds, seconds that felt like days to the stupefied Akimichi. The knock to his head, probably having the potential to knock out someone less sturdy, only incapacitated him.

He noticed but did not react when none other than armor-clad Akamaru came padding around the tree he was seated at the bottom of. The dog was sniffing the ground loudly, slowly making his way over to the human, though staying just short of blocking him from aim. It was odd, for he just sat down next to the 'dying' Chouji, observing him with those dark canine eyes.

Hinata must have noticed that Chouji was not the prince, because quickly 4 more shots came from exactly the same spot, each hitting him on a different spot on his chest. Silence ascended upon the forest as the echoes faded into nothingness. He couldn't even feel or hear anything except for the loud and heavy beating of his heart.

Akamaru, having been holding something in his mouth, neatly placed it next to the victim before padding away in the direction the shots came from. It took Chouji a few moments to get over his terror, in which time he noticed the note. The paper was rough-edged and folded over twice.

With shaking fingers he picked it up, shaking it open with the help of gravity. What was written was hard to see in the shadow of the trees, so he moved it closer to his face. What he saw looked like a map, so he turned it over to reveal a red painted message.

_**Gomennasai, Chouji-kun.**_

* * *

"I never saw her, just Akamaru." Chouji muttered, staring down at his hands where he clutched the paper. "She somehow made him _herd _me to be in the line of her vision, putting her far away and invisible. Her and Akamaru had separated, which was why…"

"A _sniper rifle_, Tenten?" Naruto called, glaring at the brunette stubbornly. Hey, he had reason to be mad, for now there was a killer loose in the woods whose target was his best friend and he could do nothing. Nada.

Sakura snorted rather unfeminine-like. "Not only is that dangerous, but that's just unfair!"

"Right, and equipping Sasuke with a fully automatic _was?_ Not my fault Naruto and Kiba didn't go over gun regulations…" Tenten said, shrugging as Team Awesome all glared at her.

The Boom Squad was, however, in a good mood. Apparently Hinata had been their unknown trump card, and when it was played they went from an almost-sure loss to what was nearing a win.

But of course, there was still Sasuke, the person on Team Awesome who was the fastest, had the best aim and was the quietest. Nobody wanted to bet on either because of the other competitor.

"She gave me this." Shikamaru took the note Chouji was holding out. "Actually, Akamaru did."

"'_Gomennasai, Chouji-kun.'_ Ino got the same note. I guess this really is Hinata… not some killer in disguise." Shikamaru muttered quietly, tossing the note to Naruto when he beckoned.

The ten 'dead' people in the circle all lapsed into a thick silence, thinking about their royalty and what the outcome of this game might be. The bad part was that they wouldn't know until the winner got to a cell phone and called Sakura, who was smart enough to take hers with her.

"I guess we'll just have to wait." Neji muttered, still lying on his back with his hands under his head.

* * *

_Sasuke-kun is the prince… _Hinata thought whilst riding Akamaru through the forest. She was leading them towards the center because she doubted that he was in the southern part. After receiving the transmission from Kiba saying that it was she and Sasuke left, Hinata just started searching for him the way she had done to Ino and Chouji, which was with the aid of Akamaru's nose.

But he could only smell the Uchiha, or any human for that matter, if the target was in the area, in which case Sasuke might have already seen them. And as a minus, the sun was about an hour away from setting, meaning that the shadows would get far bigger and more numerous. He certainly had more stealth on his side…

_She took out Chouji and Ino eh? She must be really riled up now. But still, Hinata is Hinata… _Sasuke was leaning against a tree lazily, almost as though he really wasn't in a dangerous game of paintball where there were _kisses_ at stake and the girl who he had last engaged in a game of tonsil hockey with was out for his blood… Good situation, if he would say so himself.

_Ah, but if I think of it that way, I'm hunting her as well… This is getting rather intense._

It was incredible, but Sasuke had not hooked up with a college girl since Hana two weeks ago! He was going cold turkey, obviously giving his all into the heiress charming he was attempting. But alas, just because she was cute did not mean he wouldn't shoot her in the face.

You see our Sasuke is first and foremost an aggressive male. If Hinata beat him, his competitive spirit would take a serious blow, as well as his _pride_. He couldn't let a girl beat him! Not at a game he should be better at than her…

With that thought in mind, he began to move, sneakily heading to the center.

Neither of them was on defense anymore. No more hiding, no more chickening out of battle, just plain old running into the fray with their heads held high. An honorable fight. Or as honorable as a fight could be when both hunters would use the trees as obstacles and one had a fully automatic and the other had a mount…

A brisk wind blew south through the forest, catching both Hinata and Sasuke's hair in the up draft. Hinata didn't know they felt the same breeze. It wasn't until Akamaru sniffed out Sasuke's scent on the wind did he stop in his tracks.

Hinata, who had almost fallen off by his abrupt halt, put her hand daintily on his head, patting the armor plate.  
"What is it boy?" She cooed gently.

Before she knew it, a stream of blue shots came out of nowhere. The only reason they were evaded was because Akamaru turned hastily around and was booking it the other way. Wincing, Hinata felt a few bullets connect with her long rope of hair, a rather odd sensation.

_What kind of gun does he have? Sounds fully automatic! What idiot would manufacture a paintball machine gun?!_ Gritting her teeth, she grabbed Akamaru's reins and wheeled him around.

The dog seemed hell bent on fleeing, but she would _not. _It came down to this, him versus her. A battle of sexes… of teams… of _honor_.

Sasuke apparently had not been expecting her to turn around, for the shots stopped. _He may have a machine gun, but I have two pistols!_ Guiding her noble steed with her knees, she ran in a large arc towards where the shots were coming from, alternately shooting each gun into the darkness that seemed to swallow everything that was more than twenty feet away.

_She turned around? What the fuck?_ Sasuke cursed, attempting to aim at her, but found it nearly impossible with her swerving. He started to panic a little as she neared, unloading a few shots, two of which were a mere foot away from connecting with his head. _She shot into the dark and almost got me… the fuck!?_

Realizing that the only thing he could do was to get out of the area, Sasuke started to run directly left, narrowly avoiding a pair of shots from the huntress.

_She looks like a complete babe when she's in war mode… Shit, I can't be thinking about that!_

In a quick move, he abruptly changed direction and smirked when he heard his pursuer stumble. His grin melted away when a shot actually caught a bit of his hair. _Wait, she turned this around on me, I can do the same to her!_

He dropped low and stuck out his right leg as he initiated his move, almost like a baseball player sliding into a base. As soon as his foot connected with the sturdy roots of a tree, he shifted his position so it was literally on a starting block at Track before a race. Using that leverage he shot off towards the oncoming Akanata, cruising at speeds that seemed unconceivable for someone wearing football armor.

But, to his anger, she copied his move from before and turned a sharp left as he unloaded a few shots, his strikes hitting the ground with a loud 'tap tap tap'. She now started streaking off with Akamaru, heading straight to the middle.

_He used my moves, I can use his! _Hinata thought quickly as she took a sharp left, narrowly avoiding hits. As she quickly and perceptively navigated through the thicket of trees, she heard and _smelled_ the blue shots hitting trees she had been in front of a second earlier. The lead stench was really starting to annoy her now.

A few seemingly long seconds later, her and Akamaru leaped out of the mess of trees and into a rather clear area with a few familiar faces she didn't expect to see.

* * *

Sakura had been in the middle of a suggestion to maybe head back to the cars and wait for the winner to show when Akanata burst out of the trees in an explosion of leaves and blue paint balls, all of which mercifully missed them.

"What the—" Naruto shouted, his jaw dropping at the sight of Hinata and Akamaru, now looking so badass he couldn't even finish his sentence.

"Hinata, Akamaru?" Kiba shouted, ungracefully getting to his feet. _She's turned him into a war-dog! And wow she looks hot!_

Hinata saw her friends, but couldn't react as she turned a quick left, wincing as she heard Sasuke jump through the place she just came out of. "Gemini formation, Akamaru!"

None of the spectators knew what that meant, and were flabbergasted when from some unsaid cue, Hinata jumped off her mount and he ran for the bushes. To reduce impact, she crouched low, sliding with one leg out like Sasuke had done before.

_That move worked for him…_ She thought, connecting her foot with the bottom of a tree and pushing off with all her might, changing direction to charge straight at him.

The clearing they were in now was completely devoid of trees and the only landmarks were rocks that were in the dead center, where the dead competitors were standing. They had all jumped to their feet now to see the fight at its most ferocious point.

It was because of the lack of trees that Hinata saw Sasuke for the first time in light. He seemed to have straps crossed on his chest like an 'X', and attached to that were packs of ammunition. All he needed to do was to take off one of the rectangular boxes and insert it inside the gun, and then he had a shit-load of shots again! _Not fair!_

His gun was pretty big, and looked moderately heavy. It may be bulky, but it shot like a demon so he wasn't complaining…

Hinata grit her teeth as she glared down the surprised Sasuke, starting to shoot in that alternating-gun way she had been the whole time. To he horror, he raised the gun and _blocked_ the perfectly aimed shots that would have hit his chest.

She glared as he raised his now red weapon and shot about five shots at her in rapid succession. _She's running at me, she can't get out of the way!_ Sasuke was thinking when he let loose his stream of shots.

To his great surprise, she, instead of trying to run in a direction, just turned her body 90 degrees. The shots whizzed past her chest as she raised her left arm (her left arm was facing him now) and fired two shots. He barely managed to block them with his gun as they were going straight for his head.

Hinata had stopped running and was now firing at him as he was completely in the open. The shots missed his body, though some hitting his gun as he held it out. He made to fire at her as he started to run forward but his pulling on the trigger amounted to nothing. A clicking sound just happened in its place. _Fuck! Bad time to run out of ammo!_

Sasuke frowned at his gun, the chance at which Hinata jumped at to fire. But to her horror she was out of shots as well, and the only once she had left were in the little handgun Kiba had given to her at the very beginning. _No! I need to get this!_

The Uchiha knew he had to retreat to give himself time to reload, so he darted into the patch of forest on his left, not sparing her a second glance.

"Oh no you don't!" Hinata muttered shortly, bringing her pointer and thumb fingers to her mouth to whistle loudly. Akamaru came barreling out of the trees, running straight for her. He didn't slow his pace as he neared her so she ran as he did, grabbing the reins and jumping gracefully on, reaching for her last gun as she did. Without looking back at the stunned spectators, she just charged north after Prince Awesome, willing Akamaru to up his speed. _Sasuke has a lot of ground on me now… this isn't good!_

Back at base camp, nobody spoke until Neji let out an uncharacteristic noise, something between a squeak and a moan. "What the fuck was that?"

Sakura was staring blankly at Hinata's two pistols lying abandoned on the ground. _That was… interesting. _

The enclosure looked a mess. Leaves were scattered from the entrances and exits, both blue and red giant splotches of paint adorned the trees and ground and there was _still_ a dust cloud from when it all happened.

"Raise your hand if you were expecting that." Naruto called, turning to face all of them with a really lost face.

Nobody raised his or her hands. That was just _bizarre._

* * *

_This is bad… bad bad bad bad. He could be waiting to ambush me! _Despite that thought, Hinata sped up, looking only like a white and red blur streaking past. She had an odd feeling in her gut, one that was telling her that this would end soon.

_I need to win this! _She grit her teeth angrily, even though another part of her decided to speak up. _**Why though? What do I get from this?**_

_I get… to kiss Kiba. That's the reason we're in this stupid fight? I saw teammates die in front of me, shot my friends and went commando all for a _kiss_? This is not worth it! I don't even like him like that!_

She started to get angry with herself for getting so into this when all there was to gain was saliva, and maybe a cold. As she rode her steed, her hands clutched the reins tightly, feeling her nails through the fabric.

Now she doubted everything that had to do with the stupid game and that was even worse than possibly running headlong into an ambush.

It was because her mind was off in space that she charged into a small 10ft by 10ft clearing without even looking around.

She wasn't sure what had happened next, and in what order the events occurred at. It seemed that first she saw the blue and white-clad Sasuke by the edge perpendicular to her. He had smirked, and moved to pull the trigger aiming at her head.

Then Akamaru _jumped_ up, taking the full brunt of the shots directly in his chest and then side. Somehow, being driven by instincts only, Hinata slipped off the side of her mount, placing herself five feet away from Sasuke with her dog jumping in-between them.

Being completely controlled by impulse now, Hinata raised her gun at the exact time Akamaru passed her and shot the mighty prince straight in the middle of his forehead.

Of course, all of this happened almost instantaneously.

A smattering of crows that were sitting in a nearby tree took flight in alarm at the sound of the single shot, somehow louder than that of Sasuke's rapid-fire. The fluttering of their wings and the aggravated cawing were the only sounds in the area. When they flew away a blanket of silence smothered the princess and the war-dog.

Akamaru landed roughly, though he kept his footing. His chest and right front leg were marked up by Sasuke's blue shots. Mercifully, only a few had hit his skin, the majority having collided with his armor.

In the impending darkness, Hinata barely noticed the shadows creeping their way like vines, making their enclosure seem even smaller. She still held her gun in front of her chest, it's tip still smoking, pointing at where Sasuke had been.

Her pensive hunting face was slowly being replaced by worry and shock. _What did I just do?_ As she fought to regain her breath, she was quickly consumed by the panic and alarm that came full-force as she realized what had happened.

In leveling her arm completely straight to aim steady, her barrel was a diminutive three feet away from his face. She had shot her friend in the head from _three feet away_. Sasuke's neck whip lashed back, taking with it all balance he had as he fell backward onto the hard ground. His unconscious form was now sprawled like he had just died, with the red paint covering his face making it all to realistic for the characteristically gentle heiress.

All of that spirit and proficiency of the huntress she had turned into was reversed instantly, as if struck by lightning. Her heart seemed to stop beating but she didn't feel it. She didn't feel _anything_.

The gun slipped through her hand slowly, the grip on her fingers failing to keep a hold on the handle. It fell to the ground with an unnecessarily loud clatter and the sound seemed to reverberate endlessly in her skull.

_I just... Ino and Chouji… what kind of horrible person am I?_

She fell to her knees forcefully, her milky eyes widened in fear. Akamaru trotted over to her and nuzzled her face comfortingly, but she didn't react. He started whining softly, but to no avail.

The sky had darkened into a blend of dark orange, grapefruit pink and periwinkle purple, with the trees completely silhouetted against the rainbow sky. Shadows now completely consumed their enclosure, adding a dark chill to the whole scene.

_I… I shot…_

Akamaru plopped himself down next to her, having given up making her react, making her do _something_.

_Sasuke-kun… I… I need to help Sasuke-kun._

She forced herself to look up, for her gaze had been focused on her knees and the dirt. In her state, she couldn't calm down enough to notice if he was breathing or not. _He's knocked out… maybe he got a concussion… maybe I gave him permanent brain damage!_

That thought sparked some energy into her depleted supply, shooting through her legs and causing her to run to his body. _His corpse…_ She couldn't help but think. Miserably she knew that a direct hit to the temple had the potential to instantly kill.

Once again, she fell to her knees by his side, running her hand over his forehead lightly. She felt a small but terrifying concave indent that was oddly warm despite the paint being--_Oh no. He's bleeding!_

She felt around on her body for something she could use to wipe it all up, patting down on every part with rising desperation. Finally she realized that she could use Akamaru's reins and called him over.

Thinking about it more, she took the little tail band off and hastily wiped off the sickly mixture of paint and blood, though not being able to see exactly what she was doing when she was drowning in shadows. She then took the reins and quickly wrapped it around his head three times before tying it in the back.

Struck by inspiration, Hinata started rapidly untying the knots that held his white and blue armor on, throwing it somewhere in the shadows once she was finished. He was wearing a light, black, sleeveless turtleneck that clung tightly to his chest. The pants he wore were baggy black sweats that were stained with a bit of blue paint from his gun.

Hinata put her head on his chest, placing her ear on his solar plexus, and was immensely relieved when she felt him breathing, though slowly. _His heart is beating too! I didn't kill him!_

She realized then that her little headband would not be enough, and she needed to get to a first aid kit and further diagnose what had happened. It was a good thing she had to learn first aid to be a lifeguard…

_Neji! Neji has a first aid kit in his car… the keys are… in the back left wheel well like he always does. We're in the far north of the forest, so if I can just get him to where we started this'll be okay!_

She silently thanked Kiba for choosing to park on the north side of the woods…

* * *

The first sense that came to Sasuke was that of _feeling_. He was being tossed around as if riding a horse and to make matters worse, his head felt like someone had impaled it with a sword. Second sense was _hearing_, as the sound of rushing wind was deafening and each ruffle of leaves was like someone crinkling a candy wrapped right next to his ear.

_What… happened?_

Next was _smell_, his nose was engulfed by the metallic, lead-y scent of paint. The combination of the rough travel, the loud noises, and the strong stench led to a delightfully _nauseous_ outcome.

_I feel like I got shot…_

Something he failed to notice before was now brought to his attention. He was leaning all his weight into the person directly in front of him, with his chin resting gently on one of their bare shoulders.

_I did get shot…_

He let out a little half-moan half-grunt, inhaling sharply.

_Hinata shot me in the head._

Very slowly he opened his eyes a sliver but closed them again when _sight_ was one sense too many for his injured brain to handle.

_Hinata was riding Akamaru… so maybe I'm on him… that means that the person in front of me is…_

The second that the team of Hinata, Sasuke and Akamaru leapt out of the forest, he noticed yet another thing. His arms were wrapped around a feminine waist with his hands clasped lightly together. The naked skin of his arms was lightly rubbing against her semi-exposed hips _almost_ sensually.

_This is Hinata!_

Many things happened in quick succession. In his shock his eyes shot open. He saw that he was looking directly down and at her slightly revealed cleavage, and because of that yelped rather loudly. Finally he let go of her hips for fear of going past her personal boundaries (that he had already crossed anyway). As he did that, he lost all methods of keeping himself held safely onto her mount and slipped comically off the hind of Akamaru.

Terribly, he landed squarely on his back on the flat ground of what was now the parking lot, becoming winded in the process. At his muffled cry, Hinata gasped and swung herself off of her steed before racing over to him yet again.

"Sasuke-kun!"

He had his eyes shut tight as he struggled for breath. No matter how he tried to breathe in, nothing happened and the eagerly awaited oxygen was replaced with a terrible pain from his head and now lungs. Instead of calming him when she reached, Hinata found that he got even tenser.

His breathing eventually stabilized, in which time he noticed that Hinata had _grabbed his hand_ and was squeezing it tightly.

"Are you okay? Oh, I'm so sorry! I shot you from so close and I don't think you can ever forgive me for that! I don't even know what I was thinking but you were just there and I had the gun and you shot at me so I just… I'm really really sorry."

Glancing up, he frowned when her face was contorted with fear and worry. "What are you apologizing for?" He spoke quietly, attempting to raise one eyebrow like he did but found it hurt too much.

"I… I shot you in the forehead!"

"Ouch."

Hinata bit her lip, seeming close to tears. He had said that sarcastically, but he couldn't help but feel terrible.

"Hinata… I can't feel my hand." He muttered, smirking at her from his pitiful position. It was true; for she was now clutching so tightly that he feared it would fall off. A part of him, the one not pissed off that he had lost, leaped for joy as she just loosened her grip on his hand, not dropping it completely.

When she did let go, it was to grab both of his shoulders and slowly lift him into a sitting position. He didn't mind, but was now starting to fear he was paralyzed because she was treating him so daintily. In response to that thought he shot up into a standing position quickly, soon realizing that was a very bad move.

"Sasuke-kun!" She yelped as she rose with him, catching him as he grabbed his head in pain and started to fall over. "P-please don't move so suddenly. I think you have a concussion."

Draping his arm over her shoulders, Hinata began to walk with him over to Neji's car that was mercifully only a few feet away. She deposited him by the hood, on which he gratefully sat down on, moving to lie back on it.

"You can't lie down!" She muttered quickly, running around the front of the car to catch him in middle of lowering himself down. "If you d-do that then the blood will rush too quickly and pressure will increase, making it worse!"

Obediently he allowed himself to be pushed back up into a sitting position. "Fine."

After frowning at his stubborn response, she bit her lip and shook her head before running to get the keys out of the wheel well. He crossed his legs and his arms stubbornly, wincing every time his head pounded.

In all honestly, he was fine, the only thing that hurt was his head and his pride. He had gotten over getting the wind knocked out of him and the pain in his neck already. "Congratulations."

Returning with the keys, Hinata let herself into the car, wincing at his salutation. She failed to speak; feeling that if she tried the tears would come freely and fast. This was what she had feared, that he would hate her for shooting him. Finally she found the first aid kit in the trunk after much hasty searching and brought over to him on the hood.

"May I?" She asked tentatively. He just nodded as she began to untie her makeshift bandages. Without asking further permission she lightly touched his wound, now barely bleeding.

"Hey, Hinata?" Sasuke asked slowly, his amused eyes catching her scared ones. "Next time we play paintball, I'm on your team."

She just bit her lip harder, drawing a little bit of blood. "H-here I have you bleeding and beat up and you think about playing this again?"

Hinata was forced to move onto the hood herself, feeling it temporarily dent under her front the weight. She was on her knees next to him, placing two Band-Aids in an 'X' over his wound lightly.

Sasuke said nothing to that, looking at her face while she worked. He noticed things he hadn't before, that she stuck out her tongue a little (which was cute) and she scrunched up her nose slightly (which was doubly cute) when she concentrated on something. As she began to wrap a white, real wrap around his head again, saw that her fingers were small and skillful, almost like piano-fingers.

To his dismay she left the hood and ran over to Kiba's car, which was unlocked. In a few moments she returned with her bag, drawing from it a bottle of water. She softly ordered him to drink some as she dug into the kit and brought out some aspirin, which she silently gave him.

"H-how does your head feel? Is it too tight because I can loosen it up if you—"

"It's fine."

She climbed back onto the hood and sat next to him, glancing quickly at his bandages. "I… I'm really really sorry I shot you."

Sasuke looked at her with his eyebrows raised. "Don't be. It was the point of the game."

"Are you sure you're okay?" She mumbled, still looking anxiously at him. Sitting on the ground by the car, Akamaru let out a loud sniff as some dirt got in his nose.

_She's so cute when she worries._ Sasuke thought, retracting his gaze. "My pride hurts."

Despite the situation, Hinata giggled before raising her hand to her mouth in horror as she realized what she had done.

"Way to go, you managed to successfully emasculate me."

"Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to shoot you at all! I didn't even want to." She cried, her hand still over her mouth.

Driven by impulse only, Sasuke grabbed her wrist softly and brought her hand away from her mouth. "No girl has ever done _that_ before."

_He's acting strangely. Maybe it's the concussion?_ "I…"

"Good job." He muttered, smirking at her. But it wasn't the mocking sneer, it was the 'I'm laughing this off' one.

Then came the most unexpected thing short of Hinata going war-mode. She didn't even know what she was saying, it just came out!

"You look cute when you're all beat up."

Something about him just made her forget herself, like with the little Shakespeare recital at the beach a week ago. He turned to face her, tilting his head despite the mild pain. "You look cute when you've got a gun."

"I'm glad… y-you know that you can't go to sleep for about six hours, right? You've got a pretty bad concussion there your grace…" She muttered, smiling at the compliment. Once again, instead of retreating to her embarrassed shell, she came out. Sasuke was like a drug to make her less shy.

He smirked at his new title, looking up at the first few stars that came out. "With all due respect your highness, I do not believe I can stay awake that long in my present state."

She'd become a Sasuke addict soon if this kept up...

Hinata pouted at his statement. _If he doesn't, that will cause more damage!_ "Then I will press my companionship upon thee until thou can sleep milord. If I'm there, I can make sure you doth not retireth. Is that acceptable?"

"What, you mean stay with me until 2:30 in the morning?" Sasuke asked, dropping the kingly act in his surprise. His heart leaped at the prospect of spending six hours in her company. But still… "Is that necessary?"

"Well... it is if you want to get better any time soon…"

An awkward silence gathered, and to escape it Hinata took out her iPhone. It had next-to-no reception and was about three minutes away from running out of juice. The clock read 9:24pm. "This game lasted seven and a half hours…" She muttered disbelievingly, looking up at the barely lit sky.

"You should call Sakura."

"Oh right! But, my power is almost up and the reception is nothing… the call wouldn't work…"

"Text her then." Sasuke said, glancing at her phone and smirking at the background of her and Neji.

* * *

Back at the losing circle, Sakura's phone vibrated in her pocket, making her scream a little bit. She took it out, gaining the eyes of everyone there. "Hinata texted me…"

They all stampeded over to her, wanting to get a glimpse of the message. Most of them ended up looking on over her shoulders.

From: _Hinata_

Message:

_Shot Sasuke in the head. Has concussion. Sending Akamaru back. Stealing Neji's car. Phone out of juice._

Another message came directly after everyone had finished reading, again from Hinata. She hastily opened it, her anticipation mounting.

From: _Hinata_

Message:

_P.S. Boom Squad won._

* * *

**Take that! 22 pages on a word document!  
That's got to break some record! Well, probably not, but I'd like to think so…**

**I want to thank all the reviewers saying that this was really realistic and nicely written, because I do love writing some sort of action, and I'm glad to know I can actually do it!**

**Thanks to all you amazing people who put this on favorites and watched lists.**

**Thanks to Kishimoto for imagining all these characters, whether he imaged them gun toting is up for debate…lol.**

_**Scenes from the next episode:**_

_**"Nothing is impossible, just mathematically improbable."**_

_**"Time would pass anyway if you think about it logically."**_


	11. Inverse Ideals

**And so I finish the three-part paintball palooza. It was pretty sad, I'll admit, but in a way I'm glad. I don't think I can write anything that is remotely of the same caliber of part three, but I really will try. **

**Akanata will make a reappearance I believe, as I have had many lovely reviewers caroling their love of the dynamic duo. **

**This one is a fluff bomb if I do say so myself, but it's less about budding love than a growing friendship. **

**Also, try to keep in mind that both of them are, in the first half of the chapter, tired and **_**different**_**, and in the second part are really sugar high until they crash at the very end. **

**P.S. I have a new story out, yay!**

**Naruto is not of mine,**

**This is just my own design,**

**So none of this is a crime.**

**Take that suckers, I can rhyme!**

* * *

Thirty minutes into the long anticipated (from Sasuke anyway) car ride, and neither Hinata nor Sasuke had said a word. Well, that wasn't true, Hinata had relayed what Sakura had texted back. But technically that was before they were actually on the road, so it didn't really count.

_A buzzing was heard exactly one minute before Hinata's phone was due to run out of batteries. _

"_Sakura?" Sasuke asked quickly from his position, riding shotgun. (Hinata would not, for the life of her, let Sasuke drive in his condition)_

"_Hai, it's Sakura." Hinata muttered, furrowing her brow cutely as she read it aloud. "'Neji's pissed as hell, you better not take his car. Kiba says you owe him a kiss. Don't go anywhere, we'll come find you and then all go together.'"_

_Sasuke looked at her phone with no discernable expression on his tired face. He tried to read what Hinata typed back, but failed as she tilted the phone without realizing it. _

"_What did you say?"_

_Hinata quickly turned her head to face him, a little red tinge on her cheeks. "Well… I…"_

_He just raised one questioning eyebrow, holding back his wince as it hurt his head. _

"_Um… I was under the assumption that you wouldn't… that we were." She took a deep breath suddenly. "That you don't mind my company for the next six hours."_

_Inner Sasuke, who had lain dormant for a while, finally awoke. He cheered, shooting the real Sasuke a thumbs up. _

_After a short silence, Sasuke turned his head and faced the window. "No, I don't." _

"_Good. I said 'He's hurt and they'll be screaming girls (Ino) who would make his concussion worse with the high pitch of their voices. Tell Neji I'm dropping the car off at home. Batteries dead, ttyl.'"_

"_Did you really?" Sasuke asked disbelievingly, obviously showing more emotion when his brain was a little rattled. _

"_Yeah… We should be going now."_

Thirty minutes later, they hadn't spoken. It had gotten to the point where Sasuke had almost dozed off, but was drawn back into the true realm of the conscious by Hinata throwing out a suggestion.

"W-we should do something to pass the time."

Albeit a useless one.

"Time would pass anyway if you think about it logically." Sasuke muttered, opening his eyes and turning to face her. Too bad her lavender orbs were focused on the road; they could have seen the odd flicker of _humor_ that crossed his face. Sasuke… no, an _Uchiha_ showing signs of emotion? Break out the record books!

Hinata smiled quickly at his statement. "You shouldn't be thinking about logic right now, I don't think your bruised brain can handle it."

Sasuke scoffed. He was obviously stubborn when he had a head injury. Or a pride injury. "Do you have anything in mind?"

Inner Sasuke threw a rock at real Sasuke. _"She's right, damn it! This is a two-hour ride… you have an hour and a half to go! Might as well do something rather than die of boredom."_

"Um… we could…" Hinata ventured, putting her finger to her bottom lip in thought. He watched her closely and frowned slightly when she blushed.

"We could play Twenty Questions." She muttered, putting both hands on the top of the wheel as she hunched her shoulders. It was the closest thing she could to her usual habit of putting her hands in front of her chest whilst driving a car.

Honestly, Uchiha Sasuke intrigued her. He was an enigma, a paradox that had never really been solved. She had never paid attention to him in high school and middle school, since her gaze had been fixed on his blonde best friend. But now she found herself faced with six (well, five-and-a-half) hours of his company and the psychologist inside of her was just screaming for her to figure him out.

"Fine by me. You go first." He grunted, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Hinata bit her lip in thought, causing Sasuke to have to look away for fear of the cuteness making him blush. "Oh! I have one! What's your favorite color?"

It was such a simple question, but it was one that rocked his world. He never really bothered with trivial things like that, and now that he was confronted with it, had no idea what his favorite color was.

"Don't have one."

Hinata, in the middle of the freeway, _stopped the car_. True, there was nobody else on the road as far as they could see (and they could see far, being on a flat plot of land) but it still seemed crazy that she actually stopped. They both leaned forward as the abrupt halt worked its physics on their bodies.

"Nani?" Hinata asked, turning her head sharply, looking at him with horrified eyes. "You don't have a favorite color?"

Sasuke just stared at her, completely flabbergasted at what she had just done and why. It took him a while to get back to his senses. "Is there a problem?"

He was relieved when she started the car up again, but she was still obviously surprised. "You have to have a favorite color! It's just a thing humans have!"

Sasuke thought deeply, trying to understand why he had never cared. Maybe he wasn't human. "I never thought about it."

"Is there a color you like?" Hinata asked lightly, trying to start from scratch.

Retracting from his still staggered thoughts, Sasuke looked at her, attempting to think despite the pounding in his brain. "Dark blue. That's my favorite."

It just so happened to be the color of her hair. Funny.

Putting a hand over her chest, Hinata sighed in relief. "Okay, question two. Uh… oh, what's your favorite animal?"

He had never thought about that either. When he responded accordingly, Hinata dropped her head in defeat, all the while thinking: _This'll be a long trip._

* * *

On question seventeen, Hinata started getting deep. "If you don't mind me asking, this is question seventeen by the way, if you don't mind me asking… why do you sleep around so often?

_Little shit. She just politely ordered me to answer._ Sasuke thought, internally grinning. But then he actually wrapped his mind around her question and found that his answer was more or less piloting their stolen vehicle.

Even in the darkness of the night, where you could only see well if they passed a well-lit rest stop or gas station, Sasuke knew she was blushing. He could _feel _it.

The funny thing was that he wanted to answer; he had to, according to the rules of the game.

"Do you really want to know?"

She tore her eyes away from the road for a moment to nod at him, and he could distinctly see her bite her lip.

"I 'sleep around', as you call it, because I can't get the thing I want." _That sounded rather spoiled…_

Hinata said nothing; she appeared to be pondering his answer. After a few moments of silence, Sasuke saw her expression go from one of confusion to one of amusement fairly quickly. "O-okay, question eighteen: what is the thing you can't get?"

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat, suddenly very nervous. He walked right into that! Not even bothering to notice that his palms were sweaty and his heart rate increased, the Uchiha looked directly out of the window, trying to figure out how to answer.

Eh, a little equivocation wouldn't hurt anyone. "It almost seems like… I can't have a real relationship. That's what I want."

He could _feel_ a smile come onto her face as the atmosphere in the car immediately picked up. That was the power of her smile, to him anyway…

"Forgive me for saying, but… that's doesn't seem very much like you, Sasuke-kun." She muttered, giggling a little. In the situation, that could be classified as a rude thing to say, but she was tired. They both were.

"You must not know me very much." He responded gruffly, his gaze still intently focused out of the window.

At this she giggled again. "Well, I know that your name is Uchiha Sasuke, you like the color dark blue, you like cats, you like tomatoes, you want to be a writer when you grow up, your favorite sport is soccer, you're afraid of failing, you're highly alcohol tolerant, you listen well, you are a great paintball marksman, you actually **don't** use gel to stick up your hair like that, you are stubborn when you have a concussion, and you obviously aren't as antisocial as you seem, seeing as you are willingly spending the next five hours in my company."

She just listed things he had answered for her questions, added it to what she already knew and basically left him flabbergasted. Honestly, he didn't even know she was listening to what he had been saying, thinking that she was just trying to keep him awake.

Apparently he was wrong.

"Um, question nineteen: why do you live alone?"

_She doesn't know? I would have thought that Sakura would have told her. _"My whole family died when I was seven."

"Every person?"

"Is that the last question?"

Hinata squeaked in unfairness as he said that. Obviously this was dangerous territory to be poking around in. "No, it's not. I actually have one now. Is it because, based on your lack of familial love, that you deny Sakura's affections because you view her as a sister or a mother?"

_She made that connection pretty fast. _"Yes, it is."

Oddly, she seemed happy with his answer, and lapsed into a contented silence. _Score one for Hinata! _She thought, and inner Hinata cheered.

"My turn." Sasuke muttered almost possessively. "Favorite color?"

* * *

An hour later, they entered the gated grounds of the Hyuga mansion and drove silently into the garage. They deposited Neji's car in its usual spot and relocated to Hinata's Porsche before speeding off to Sasuke's apartment.

Randomly, while they were waiting at a light, Hinata's stomach gave a low, warbling growl, demanding to be fed.

"Hungry?" Sasuke asked, smirking over at her, who had clutched her tummy with one hand.

Pale eyes looked back at him. "I haven't eaten since… yesterday's dinner."

When Kiba had shouted her into the conscious world, she had just hastily gathered herself and rushed out the door. She nicked a granola bar from his house, but that was a pitiful excuse for a meal, especially with the activity planned for the day.

"Turn left then…" Sasuke muttered, and she changed the turning signal immediately. "There's a good Chinese place on 23rd."

Obediently, she followed his directions, leading her to a little restaurant she had never seen before. It was so small it could have easily been looked over. Catch 22 was that the place was completely packed to bursting, making those waiting to dine have to stand outside. He turned to face her with a pensive expression. "What would you like?"

"Chicken, but… Sasuke-kun, it's really crowded. I don't think—"

He cut her off with his signature smirk before opening the door and stepping onto the sidewalk. Without one look back, he darted past the line and was soon lost in the sea of people.

_How is he going to get any food in the next year? _She wondered, propping her left elbow on the top of the steering wheel and placing her chin in her palm. _That place is so crowded and probably overheated! What if he faints again? Should I follow?_

Her fears dissipated when she saw him crawl his way out. In her shock of seeing the three plastic bags filled with take-out boxes, her elbow slipped and landed on the horn, causing a single, loud, long note to sound to everyone's displeasure. Sasuke just grinned and opened the door. He haphazardly placed the bags in the back before settling down in his seat and buckling himself.

"You didn't specify what chicken you wanted so I kind of went ballistic. There's lemon chicken, sesame, chicken fried rice, chicken spring rolls—"

"How on earth did you manage to get that much food that fast?" She asked quickly, looking at him oddly. To get all that food that fast was unthinkable, and considering the place was packed beyond belief and obviously busy as all hell just made it even more unachievable. "S-seems impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible, just mathematically improbable." Sasuke muttered, shooting her a smirk. "Actually, I know the owner… and his daughters."

That pretty much summed it up. She blushed and started up the car, deliberately keeping her eyes off the player sitting beside her.

"Wha… what did you get for yourself?"

"Basically everything. I haven't eaten in a while either. Thought we might pig out to the best."

Hinata giggled without knowing why. "A paintball celebratory feast?"

"Hn,"

She full out laughed this time, causing him to fight a blush at the melodic sound. "And to drink?"

He frowned. "Sake?"

"N-not in your condition…"

"We need caffeine."

She nodded in approval before taking another detour. In the parking lot of the supermarket, Hinata jumped out of the car with it still running and sped into the store, ignoring the stares at her army-like uniform. She emerged a few minutes later with four 2L bottles of Mountain Dew under her arms.

Without realizing it or stopping himself, Sasuke's mouth opened slightly. _Four? _She neatly gave them to him as she got back into her car and again they sped away, this time actually making it to their destination.

In an odd display of chivalry, Sasuke carried two of the three bags and all of the soda, leaving Hinata with only one, admittedly light bag. Though she had argued and even played the 'cripple' card, he had stubbornly just grabbed all he could.

His apartment was dark when he opened the door, and he had to reach across her to hit the switch on the wall. It was plain, with white walls and light brown, cedar hardwood flooring. Despite the plainness, it exuded a very 'high-end' air. There was a large sliding-glass-door leading to a balcony directly opposite where they were now, with his living room directly in between. He had a small couch that faced a nicely sized television, which had many connecting cords to gaming consoles and she could even see two DDR mats peeking out from behind the hutch the television was placed in.

All in all, a male apartment.

Sasuke strolled into the kitchen that was through an entryway perpendicular to the door, leaving Hinata to follow him. On the table they placed their burdens and then he mysteriously left, leaving her to set everything up.

A rouge thought was plaguing her mind as she daintily grabbed two glass cups from his cupboards. _What if he is trying to take a quick shower? I don't think he knows he can't._

Taking a shower was a no-no if someone had a concussion. The hot water and steam would attribute to lightheadedness, thus making the concussion much worse. She couldn't have him killing himself…

* * *

"Sasuke-kun?" She asked lightly, peering around the corner of what she thought was his room. To her relief it was, and she was met with him coming out of the bathroom with a new set of head bandages. No shower.

At his name, he looked up at her, frowning slightly for who knows what reason. "Yes?"

The realization of her situation sent a screaming blush to her features. "O-oh! I was just checking to make sure you weren't taking a shower. That'd m-make it a lot worse."

_She's concerned about my health… take that Naruto!_ He thought quickly, letting his classic smirk adorn his features.

"Hn," He muttered, leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom casually as he looked at her.

At that moment, Sasuke's cell phone, which had been charging on his bedside table, buzzed loudly, signaling a text. Both of them jumped at the sudden sound and looked at it before Sasuke actually went and checked it.

He said nothing, but frowned as he read on. Suddenly he quickly stole out of his room, brushing past Hinata who followed hesitantly.

Not five seconds after he had reached the front door and turned off the light, heavy pounding was heard on his door.

"Oi, teme! Are you here? You can't just escape like that!" Came Naruto's loud exclamations, slightly muffled by the piece of wood in between them.

Hinata gasped, not at Naruto for once, but because they were about two seconds and five feet away from being caught and that would make him aggravated, which would hurt his head, which would make the concussion worse, which she did _not_ want to happen. Sasuke's hand shot out in the darkness and lightly covered her mouth.

Apparently Sakura was with him, because after a brief respite of the knocking, she spoke. "Maybe he's not home. He could be out getting something to eat."

_Please Naruto, don't say anything… don't you dare say a word. _Sasuke thought, gritting his teeth. He flinched at what the blonde said next.

"Or, he could be ignoring us, and is in his room _right now_ with Hina—"

Sakura's audible punch silenced Naruto's ranting. "Baka, they wouldn't do that. Well, **she** wouldn't anyway."

Hinata felt herself going red as she imagined what Naruto was obviously thinking about.

"We could just let ourselves in you know…" They heard Naruto mutter. "His key isn't very well hidden…"

"You'd be in so much trouble! No, let's just leave and come back tomorrow when he is sure to be here."

After one more unnecessary knock from Naruto, the pair of them left. The fugitives inside the house waited for a full minute before turning the light back on again.

Looking down at his phone, Sasuke cringed as something popped up that he hadn't seen before. "23 missed calls and 17 new voice mails…"

"Wow…" Hinata muttered, but her musings were cut short by her stomach giving a loud and painful gurble. It was then that the pair of them remembered they had incredibly good and free Chinese food waiting for them in the kitchen.

Happy, warm and full, the pair of them relocated to the living room, to the couch to be exact. Each had one of the 2L bottles of Mountain Dew with them, without using glasses.

Little known fact about Hyuga Hinata:

When she was, 1. caffeinated, 2. full, and 3. deliberately avoiding sleep, the heiress was just _different._ She was a little more outgoing. It was a combination that added up to her basically being in a mildly drunken state. Yay!

"Nice gaming selection…" Hinata muttered, taking a drink from her large bottle of pure sugar. Sasuke looked in the direction that she was looking and smirked.

"You play?"

"Uh huh!"

He chuckled and a mental image of Hinata blasting the shit out of Covenant Elites popped up. Yeah, she really was a pretty awesome girl. "You have officially achieved Bro Status."

Over Hinata's face bloomed a cute smile. "Niisan gets angry when I play with him… I don't know why! He will barely play a-**hic**- 1v1 against me anymore!"

So now she had hiccups. Sasuke was very close to drowning in cute.

"Do you win?" He asked, moving to sit cross-legged in front of one of his consoles. Hinata looked and saw he had both an Xbox and Gamecube. Old-gen consoles, but still with good games.

"S-sometimes. Well no, the majority of the time." She giggled, noticing she was still wearing her headband. She untied it lightly and also took down her hair from the high-pony.

Sasuke turned his head to look at her. "That'd be it. You killed his man-pride."

Wrong thing to say. Hinata immediately put her hand over her mouth in horror. "I... but, it's just a-**hic**- game!"

"Yeah, and you beat him at said game."

Apparently Hinata was ADD when she was caffeinated, full and determined to stay awake. Her attention span was fairly small at the present time, causing her to jump tracks instantaneously. "Super Smash Brothers Melee? I've never played that…"

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat. _Never played Super Smash? Impossible!_ "Really? I find that hard to believe."

Hinata pouted. "Why?"

"It's only the single most awesome game in existence." He muttered, turning to face his Gamecube and beginning to boot up the game.

* * *

It ended up being the single most awesome game in existence. Hinata loved it from the start.

But then she found that she could never win. She huffed angrily as the Sasuke-controlled Samus blasted her Peach off the screen… _for the fifth time!_ She only had one life left on this round, and he had all of his. "This isn't fair!"

Sasuke, sitting next to her on the couch, let out a merciless chuckle. "You could have used Toad to block and then frying-panned me off the edge… Try thinking a little more."

On impulse, Hinata quickly quit to the starting screen and set up the next match. Personally, she loved the song in the background. Sasuke decided to choose Bowser and Hinata's scrolled paused on Roy for a minute before choosing Marth right next to him. She then chose Pokemon Stadium as the playing field, hoping it would make some difference.

_Okay, he's not unbeatable…_ Hinata thought quickly, trying to strategize. _I just have to trick him. _

Their game started off nicely, with Hinata almost being knocked off the edge but then using Up+B to jump to safety. Two items dropped, a mine and a Pokeball. Bowser and Marth went for the ball, with the latter surprisingly getting it. Hinata threw it quickly at her adversary, smiling wide as Entei popped out.

So, her first kill wasn't exactly _her_ kill. Bowser was near the edge and Entei's fire had completely knocked him off and Sasuke, surprised by the odd turn of events, failed to jump in time.

Hinata said nothing, although her smile infected Sasuke. He was happy she got a kill, even if he could have easily leaped to safety. Sadly, he didn't see her pick up the mine and place it by the edge from which he had just fallen to his death.

The arena changed to a fire style, which only further opened up space to her cleverly placed mine. A few minutes went by where they fought lamely, though never dying.

It happened quickly. Marth charged up the full power of his sword and got Bowser full blast. The great evil turtle-dragon was cast into the air before falling back down directly on her pre-placed mine. The resulting explosion shot Sasuke's character flying to hit the screen in an obvious and cleverly initiated knockout.

From then on, Hinata became a master with Marth, and began to get kill after kill on whatever character Sasuke picked. He was becoming increasingly annoyed and his anger reached its peak after Marth smash-moved Kirby off the map.

His sitting position changed dramatically, putting him cross-legged and leaning forward to better observe the screen. This was his battle-mode.

A new game was started where Hinata characteristically went for Marth and Sasuke (to a brief chuckle from Hinata) chose _Jigglypuff_ and then Hyrule.

Hinata's experiences with the little creampuff were not at all happy. She couldn't control the roll move and her singing always missed and gave Sasuke a chance to just smash her out of the ring. Jigglypuff _sucked_.

In five minutes, the Sasuke-controlled Jigglypuff killed her Marth three times. One by charging the roll, one by smash moves, and one merciless sing-to-sleep-then-hit-with-Ness'-baseball-bat.

So Sasuke's favorite character was obviously Jigglypuff and hers was Marth. One would think it would by switched around…

The pair of them played long into the night, with the Mountain Dew coursing through their veins and being driven by an odd, virtual bloodlust. They passed the 2:30am 'allowed to sleep' mark without even realizing it.

Hinata dozed off at the 'Choose Character' screen, and Sasuke gave into sleep after waiting for her to choose her guy. They had turned off all the lights, and the only radiance was the television. The background sound was playing over and over again, acting as a lullaby for the tired friends.

It was 5:18 in the morning.

* * *

**Alright, this one is over and done,**

**We all know Super Smash is hella fun.**

**But there is something, of which you know none!**

**What will happen to our heroes with the rise of the sun?**

**I'm the second coming of Shakespeare, just thought you guys should know…**

_**Scenes from the next episode:**_

"_**How many seconds would it take for him to plot my murder?"**_

_**Hinata smirked. "He's a genius, so about 15. But if Kiba were with him, it'd be about 10 seconds. And you'd be killed twice over."**_


	12. Jejune Jubilance

**Sorry cannot cut it. It took me FOREVER to get this out, and it's mortally short. My supreme bad. I had an AP test at school, which are these huge, three-hour tests you can take in a certain subject and if you get a good grade, you get college credit. I had U.S. History, and I was studying like a madman and taking practice tests and shit. I'm terribly sorry I neglected to write either this or KNTM.**

**My bad.**

**But on the bright side… that is now over with and I am going to be updating like crazy. Or at least that is my plan...  
**

**Naruto does not belong to me.**

* * *

Pain. Dull, continuous pain. Bones… muscles… _organs... _all were drowning in pain. Sasuke was hurting in places he didn't even know he had. Even lifting an eyelid was strenuous.

It had been the terribly repetitive theme song of Super Smash Brothers Melee that woke him, and he saw vaguely that the 'Choose Character' screen was still up. He had already chosen Ness as his character, and the other pointer was hovering over Zelda.

The morning sky was grey and bland, peeking through his sliding glass door. Even still, the feeble light drove him to wince and look away.

His tired eyes flitted over to the clock on the DVD player. 2:53pm… damn. They still received ten hours of sleep even after playing Super Smash well into the morning.

If someone were to be in the apartment at this very moment, they would see a very odd sight. Sasuke and Hinata were on his rather small couch, completely still. Oddly, Sasuke was curled into a little ball, very catlike, taking up as little space as his tall body would permit. Hinata on the other hand, was completely sprawled out, lying on her back with one leg draped over the back of the couch and the other interestingly tucked underneath the first.

Their heads were almost touching and in fact, Sasuke was actually using her hair as a pillow for now.

"Oi, Hinata…" Sasuke muttered, still looking at the screen, not at her.

Her felt her stirs via her hair, but found that she didn't really change position. "Sasuke-kun?"

"I hurt."

"Me too."

They fell into a sleepy silence, in which Hinata tried to get up. Keyword: _tried_. She pitifully attempted to sit up, but stopped, moaned, and flopped back down. "This is problematic…"

Sasuke agonizingly turned his neck to look at her, although only seeing the top of her head. "Hn?"

"I… can't get up. How am I going to get home?"

She said it so jokingly that he almost laughed. At his silence (due to keeping his laugh in) she answered her own question. "I could call Neji-niisan…"

Sasuke couldn't even image how royally pissed off the man would be if he came to pick up his darling cousin at his house because they couldn't move from exhaustion. Exhaustion from what? Sex is what he would think, of course. Plus he would have already been a little on the mad side after they stole his car.

"How many seconds would it take for him to plot my murder?"

Hinata smirked. "He's a genius, so about 15. But if Kiba were with him, it'd be about 10 seconds. And you'd be killed twice over."

Ah yes, Kiba, the second brotherly figure in her life. _That makes two protective barriers around her!_

"Splendid." Sasuke muttered sarcastically, trying his hand at getting up. He was met with even less success than Hinata, having first to stretch out before getting up. "I'll bet they filed a missing persons report…"

That horrible thought sent some much needed energy through Hinata's body like an electric shock. She sat up and almost leaped into a standing position.

Three seconds later, both Sasuke and Hinata knew that was a _bad_ idea. The dizzy spell of death came over her quickly, making her fall back onto the couch on her back, the same position she had been in before. Progress indeed.

"Can I use your cell phone?" Hinata asked after waiting to recover. He grunted and sent his arm down to the floor to try to locate his phone.

Once he grabbed it and gave it to her, she smiled. "Arigatou."

He could vaguely hear the ringing as she called someone, presumably Neji. "Neji-niisan! It's—"

"Hinata, where the fuck are you?" His yell was very loud, and hurt both Sasuke and Hinata's ears.

"I'm at Sasuke-kun's house."

"WHAT?!"

It took Hinata some time to figure out why he was so angry. "Ah! No! I-it's not like that! We _didn't_, Neji!" A heavy blush was accumulating on her pale cheeks as she tried to assure him that their sleepover was chaste.

Sasuke quietly stole the phone away and held it to his own ear to her little squeaks of disapproval. "Hyuga, nothing happened."

"Oh, don't _you_ tell me nothing happened!"

Sasuke listened to Neji rant for a full minute, all the while holding both of Hinata's wrists with one of his own as she tried to steal back the phone. It was all in good fun though. "Sasuke-kun!"

"Okay, fine you're right, something happened…" Sasuke said, smirking at the look on Hinata's face. They were now both sitting up, a feat that had been deemed impossible not two minutes ago.

"What?" Neji asked sternly.

"We played Super Smash Brothers for six hours straight before conking out on my couch."

Both Hyugas were completely silent.

* * *

The next week passed almost bizarrely normally. Hinata found she had to kiss Kiba, and only resorted to an innocent peck, which he allowed.

Hinata and Sasuke didn't see each other at all. Not once. Though both individually reminisced about the fun night they had shared, neither sought the other out. Something about the pair of them being quiet people…

Nine days after the Super Smash paintball celebratory highly-caffeinated night in honor of Sasuke's concussion, something finally happened.

Neji and Tenten were an item.

Details were sketchy, but Hinata managed to gather from Neji that it had indeed been her who made the first move. He openly admitted that he had been way too shy, and he had quite literally jumped for joy when she admitted her feelings.

Also, an odd romance was blossoming between none other than Haruno Sakura and Inuzuka Kiba. It was just mainly companionship; with them eating out together and planning group outings together. Yeah, it was just friendly _now…_ give them about one week longer and they'll be all over each other.

Looks like operation: Naruto is Awesome (mentioned in chapter three) was failing. Sure, Sasuke was blatantly ignoring Sakura in attempt to woo Hinata as planned, but Sakura messed up Naruto's whole plan by beginning to like _Kiba_.

Yes, Naruto and Kiba were friends, and they always would be, but Naruto was just on edge lately. He knew that Kiba knew nothing of his plan, so he couldn't blame him at all without making an ass out of himself. Bros before hoes was still the prominent law.

But alas, just because he wouldn't pick a fight with Kiba didn't mean he wouldn't rant at, not to, Sasuke.

X.x.X

"I just don't know. Everything is going to the dogs, and I mean that quite literally." Naruto spat, lying on his back with his hands behind his head.

They were at the beach, and Hinata was yet unaware of their presence. Sasuke, this time armed with _And Then There Were None_ by Agatha Christie, was leaning against one of the trees that grew out of the sand and helped to shade part of the beach. Yeah Christie wasn't Shakespeare, but he felt like mixing up his beach reads a little bit.

"Sasuke, man, you have to help me get her from Kiba."

Sasuke, knowing Naruto would just keep talking to him, set his book upside down so the page was kept. "You could challenge him to yet another paintball war and this time get Hinata on your team…"

Naruto sat up quickly and turned to face his friend, his face completely set. "Yeah, lets—"

"Yeah... not being serious." He still _painfully_ remembered the events of the last one. Although the outcome had been nice, the process sucked some major ass.

His face fell, and he lied back down. They relaxed in silence for a while before Naruto displayed an odd surge of observation. "That's the fifth guy who's come up to Hinata…"

Sasuke's neck cricked as he turned it to see what was going on. It was true; some blonde asshole was leaning against the post, chatting her up. "Why?"

The blonde yawned, putting his hand over his mouth. "I dunno, because she's _pretty_ maybe?"

"No dobe, I mean why are they flocking now?"

"No se." Naruto muttered lightly, readjusting himself on his towel. "Summer heat?"

Sasuke sat cross-legged, staring over at Hinata, who was politely trying to shoo the boy away. After a few moments, he got the hint and walked back to his friends, all of who gathered around to hear what had transpired. He saw her throw a huge sigh and tie her long hair into a loose braid.

Naruto smirked as he heard what Sasuke muttered before returning to his book. "Fucking assholes…"

"Sasuke-baka, why don't you ask her out?" He asked quickly, suddenly curious as to what was going on in his friend's head.

_Because of you._ "Because she'd say no."

"You never know unless you try!"

_Why don't you just shut up?_ "You'd be hard-pressed to try unless you know."

Naruto threw his hands in the air from his lying position. "You are _ridiculous_, you know that right?"

Returning to his book, Sasuke stopped himself from smacking Naruto in the head.

"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly, sitting up with his sunglasses askew. "I could tell her you like her!!"

Time stopped as the impossibility of that suggestion fell on him. "You better not."

Naruto smiled slyly before jumping up and beginning to run towards Hinata, who was luckily all the way across the beach.

"Naruto!" Sasuke growled, throwing his book and sand everywhere as he got up and tried to catch up to his friend. Well, ex-friend if his plan fell through.

So began the race. Sasuke was the faster runner, but Naruto had a ridiculous head start. Good thing it was a long beach…

* * *

Hinata was now in a foul mood, although nobody would know because she was so chipper on the outside like usual. That guy was the latest in a long line of boys who decided to chat her up today. But seriously, was it _because_ of her denials that made them think they had a chance?

Idiots.

She was starting to regret taking on this job. What with the constant advances, the boredom, and the overheating, it basically sucked. With that thought in mind, she leaned back in her chair and stretched luxuriously. At least she was outside though...

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw just one more anomaly in her sought-after, perfect beach. Two guys her age were running full out in her direction, throwing sand everywhere and on people. She was two seconds away from busting out the 'ol megaphone before she saw who it actually was.

_Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun?_

"HINATA!" Naruto yelled, waving at her while running from Sasuke. The Uchiha was gaining on him quickly as they neared the chair.

Then it happened, the epic fall. There was a deep divot of sand that Naruto did not see and once his foot fell into it, he completely lost his balance and started to plunge forward. In his desperation to save himself, he threw both arms out for balance and ended up completely close-lining Sasuke to the ground with him.

"Ah!" Hinata muttered, throwing aside her megaphone and jumping down to their level. "Are you guys alright?"

She fell to her knees in between them, putting her hand on Sasuke's shoulder and looking from one boy to another.

Something became interestingly apparent to Sasuke. First was that Hinata had not cried out "Naruto-kun!" when they both fell; she had addressed both of them with her exclamation. That must imply that she thought of them on the same level. Secondly, Hyuga Hinata was now touching his shoulder and was sitting closer to him than Naruto. She was fucking touching him.

Oh my.

"We're fine, but Hinata, I have something—"

"W-why were you two running?" Hinata interrupted, daintily retracting her hand from Sasuke's shoulder and standing up.

"Because Sasuke—"

"I can't have you two destroying the peace of my beach." She said lightly, cutting him off again. She was a master of the quiet authority. Probably a Hyuga thing.

"Sorry," Sasuke muttered, shooting a glare of all that was evil at his blonde friend.

In the end, all of Naruto's efforts to tell Hinata of Sasuke's undying love were blatantly shot down by Sasuke and unknowingly shot down by Hinata. They ended up having to go back and apologize to the little girl who got a bunch of sand in her eyes and the boy who's sand castle they destroyed, on Hinata's orders.

The whole time, Sasuke was as stoic and moody as usual, but on the inside he was jumping for joy. She had touched him and not Naruto. She had acknowledged them both on the same level.

Hooray for baby steps!

* * *

**Sorry this was both short and pointless. I'm just having a little bit of development between their relationship in each one so this was just whatever. It's hard to do an aftermath chapter, so this was, I repeat, whatever.**

**Scenes from the next episode:**

_**"So, what are our liabilities?" Sasuke asked quickly over the phone, his brow furrowed.**_

_**"Uh, she could be anywhere in Konoha. Anywhere."**_

_**"Oh… wow."**_


	13. A Kissable Knight

**Folks, I have a reason for the long ass respite of updating. I broke my right (dominant) arm, and the cast is twisted oddly so I can't type with that hand, which inversely means that I had to type this with one hand. At the same time, I had finals and essays to write. Two 8-pagers, which isn't even THAT bad, but with one hand and also with writing this and KNTM…**

**I am so sorry. My behavior is unacceptable.**

**Naruto does not belong to me in any way, shape or form.**

**P.S You may have noticed that I changed the name to something more fitting to the actualy. Littoral meant pertaining to a shore or a beach, and I kind of moved away from that. Now the title better fits the plot, considering that it is a rather difficult and labyrinthine love. I mean, Sasuke is basically jumping through flaming hoops and battling armored bears to woo Hinata...**

* * *

It was time. It was time for her to do it. Her father would be royally pissed as all hell, as she knew. What else could she do, tell a lie and say she got into the stupid business school? No, she had to confront her problem.

It was just that confronting the problem was so scary.

Her father was a tall, strongly built man who looked like he could kill you with one mere flick to the head. Although he had never raised a hand to his daughters, it was the intimidation that he _could_ and it would hurt that worked to his advantage.

"Otousama?"

Hinata peered around the corner of the doorframe leading into her father's study. He was going over some document that needed his signature with the only source of light being from the window, letting in the afternoon sun.

"What is it?" He barked, apparently already in a foul mood.

She tentatively stepped in, shooting one sad glance back at Neji and Hanabi who were back further down the hall. They shot her matching thumbs up, which raised her spirits slightly.

Once she was across from his desk she sat down in the uncomfortable leather chair. "I… I g-got the letter from your old school…"

He shot her a glance that said 'Oh, really?' He never really had to talk sometimes.

Hinata took a deep breath and came clean about her being denied.

O.o.O

"Is tousama going to be angry at neechan?" Hanabi asked lightly, stirring a mug of hot cocoa that Neji had provided for her. She was fourteen with long blackish brown hair like Neji's with a side part slightly obscuring one of her pale eyes. Through not completely flat-chested, it was certainly Hinata on the receiving end in the breast department. Hanabi was pretty, though she carried a lot of her father in her whereas Hinata was almost the spitting image of her mother.

Neji ran a hand through his bangs as he sighed. Both were in the kitchen waiting for the end of Hiashi and Hinata's 'meeting.'

"Yes, he's going to be furious."

Hanabi, who had just raised the mug to her lips, slammed it down on the ceramic counter top, spilling about half of it. The light brown liquid was quickly gathering in the small cracks of the tiles. "That is so unfair!"

Neji, whose eyes were fixed on the progress of the cocoa, furrowed his brow at her statement.

"Neechan got into her dream college, but not into the one tousama wanted... and she's the one who's getting in trouble? It should be the fucking business school that gets their souls crushed!"

"Such colorful language..." Neji muttered, chancing a glance up at her.

"Neji, I'm not a little kid..." Hanabi scowled, downing what remained of her cocoa. "You don't seriously agree with tousama, do you?"

He threw out another grand sigh. "You know I don't. I just wish that this could have been avoided, that's all."

The cocoa was slowly forming a chocolate river in one of the creases between the tiles and was heading for the edge of the counter. Hanabi took no notice and instead threw her spoon at Neji.

"How the hell could this have been avoided?" She was angry now. "Hinata knew she wasn't going to get into tousama's school, I'll even bet he did as well, and yet here he is, flipping a fucking tit!"

Neji smirked subconsciously at his little cousin. "Where have you been picking up this language? School? Because if Hiashi-sama finds out--"

"Do you even care about neechan?!" Hanabi accused, now resorting to pointing fingers. Very unladylike.

That touched a nerve. "Of. Course. I. Care. About. Her."

The chocolate river was a few inches from the edge now.

"Oh, well you were speaking so monotonously I honestly doubted your love for your own flesh and blood..."

The milky chocolate was just one inch away from falling into space.

"Hn,"

"That's not a word you know..."

Hinata's keys were next to Neji's hand, so if she came to collect them and go somewhere, he would know. He would be able to stop her long enough to get the story.

The river was now at the very edge, beginning to gather enough volume in order to jump the final hurdle: the slightly heightened edge of the counter.

Right as the river of chocolate made it over the hurdle and started a gentle drip to the floor, Hinata strode into the kitchen as leisurely as if she hadn't just gotten a major verbal beat down. No tears, no red face, the only evidence of any stress on her was that her hair was slightly riled, barely but noticeably out of place.

"Neechan!" Hanabi squeaked, keeping her distance by staying in the chair. There was something eerie about her sister in this state, like she was just a hollow shell.

Hinata avoided her sister's eyes, making her way steadily towards Neji, more specifically her keys. They noticed another stress sign in her posture, as her neck was very tense.

"Hinata…" Neji muttered, bending his neck down so he was at her level and could look at her face. " What happened?"

She stopped in front of him, her eyes focused on the keys that were by his right hand. She darted her hand out but Neji grabbed the keys too quickly and held them above her head. "Hinata, where do you think you're going?"

"Neji-niisan, give them to me please." She asked, finally looking at him. Nothing except anger and frustration was seen in her pearly orbs.

"No," he said stubbornly, holding them higher. Hanabi watched the pair of them with a trace of fear on her face. She was slightly on Neji's side of keeping the keys, considering that she wanted to know what happened.

"Please give me my keys."

Neji placed his hands in his pockets, in the same time pocketing her keys. He shook his head silently, his eyes closed. "You're just going to just pick up out of here without telling us?"

"Niisan, please." Hinata muttered, starting to sound more intense now. The staring contest of the century happened between the two cousins, with neither willing to back down.

Hinata knew that she could not get the keys from him through force, and if he wasn't going to give them to her when she asked politely…

"Fine."

Without so much as a huff of indignation or even a blush of embarrassment that they learned to expect from an anguished Hinata, she gave him one more square-jawed look before turning on her heel and strolling out of the kitchen.

She liked walking anyway.

* * *

Sasuke had just gotten home from his job at the café, literally just gotten through his door, when his cell buzzed from his pocket. He frowned at the caller ID: Neji. Why would he be calling? The only reason he had Neji's number in the first place was Track related circumstances.

He kicked his shoes off while accepting the call and put it to his ear. "What is it?"

"I don't want to do this but—"

"What is it?" Sasuke repeated, wandering to his couch and falling backwards over the arm, landing squarely on his back with his head on one of the pillows. Despite his mild dislike of the Hyuga, he found his anticipation mounting.

"I talked to Naruto and he said I should call you to help…"

"Help with what?" Sasuke was really curious now. When Neji was silent, Sasuke found himself frowning even though Neji couldn't see. "Spit it out Neji… I don't have all day."

Actually he did, but he just felt like saying that.

"Fine. Hinata's missing."

Sasuke felt his heart lag. _Missing?_ "What do you mean?"

"God, this—Okay, long story short, Hinata told her father she didn't get accepted to his college and then she came out to get her keys and when I wouldn't give them to her she just walked out."

Trying to hide his anxiety, Sasuke attempted a casual approach to questioning. "Why did you refuse her of her keys?"

"I wanted to know what happened. She also left her cell phone at home. It's been 6 hours and—"

"So, what are our liabilities?" Sasuke asked quickly over the phone, his brow furrowed.

"Uh, she could be anywhere in Konoha. _Anywhere_."

"Oh… wow."

This already seemed daunting.

"Who have you called?" Sasuke snapped, getting off his couch immediately and running back to his discarded shoes.

"Sakura, Naruto, Kiba, Ino, Shino, Tenten, you, I'm going to call Lee next."

_That's good, the more people the better._

"Right, I'll start looking. I'll call if I find her." He said quickly before hanging up and slipping into his shoes.

As he ran down the hallway of his floor, he tried to gather his thoughts and get past the budding fear. It was about nine now, and the sun was starting towards setting. _Where would she be? I don't yet know her well enough to know where she would go in this case. _

When he got to the front desk on the ground floor, he stopped in his tracks. _How am I going to get around?_ He had no car! _I have to bike… _

After retrieving his bike from the apartment garage, he hopped on and began to peddle viciously towards the beach, hoping maybe she would be there.

His bike was an old, forest green Schwinn road bike that rode like a dream. _This'll work; I'm more mobile this way… sort of. _

Upon reaching the beach, he rode onto the sand before throwing himself off and beginning to scan the empty and darkening beach. Keyword empty. She certainly wasn't there.

_Okay, hold up. She's gone and sad. She's not with Sakura or any of the girls since Neji enlisted them to help search. Not at the beach, not at home, not with Kiba or Shino… Comfort food maybe!_

He jumped back onto his bike and turned it to face north, in the direction of his restaurant and her beloved Shinigami Akane. As he reached the café and parked his bike in the back alley he felt his pocket buzz. Swiftly pulling out his phone, he saw it was Naruto who was calling and tried to adopt a cool and calm demeanor as he answered. "Yes?"

"Dude…" He panted. He was clearer when he caught his breath. "I should've taken your advice and gotten a bike… I've been running all over."

"That's because I'm always right. What is it?"

Something about Naruto's pause made Sasuke know that he was smiling on his end of the line. "I found her."

Sasuke was very close to crying out in triumph, so instead he spun around in a quick circle awkwardly, holding the phone to his ear tightly. "Are you with her?"

"I said I found her, teme. I can see her right now."

"Go get her then!" He barked impatiently, longing for her safe return. He, for once, failed to think about the outcome of what Naruto would do. If Naruto got her, it would be like the knight on the white stallion and her infatuation would climb further. He would just be one of the other knights who had a black horse and who looked for the princess in a totally different country. The guy they never put into the fairy tales.

"No."

That didn't make sense to Sasuke at all. "What?"

"You come get her. You're the one who loves her anyway."

In his shock, he didn't even reprimand Naruto for using the 'L' word.

Naruto took his silence for assent and continued. "She's at the cliffs, at the top of the far east part of them."

In Konoha, the city was looked over by towering cliffs that had faces of their past and present leaders carved into it. Sasuke could see, from his position, the eastern edge. _That's where she is? _Without another moment's hesitation, he jumped back onto his bike and peddled so fast and hard he would have made Lance Armstrong glow with pride, all the while holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder.

"Naruto… thanks."

"No problem! Go get 'um tiger!" Naruto called before hanging up. Quickly putting his phone in his pocket as he waited for the light to change, Sasuke shot one more glance at his destination, wondering why she was there of all places.

* * *

Hinata was in a state of total release. The wind on top of the cliffs was strong but she just ignored it completely. The temperature was dropping as well, but she seemed to not feel it. She sat at the edge of the cliff, with her bare feet hanging precariously over the edge. Below her laid the sprawling Konoha, and slightly further out was her beach and the sea it was attached to.

She had long stopped thinking about what her father had said to her and her options regarding her future. Her father had laid out the plan for her quite bluntly. She would wait a year, get private tutorage on business matters, and then reapply for the next year. If she refused, she wouldn't have been allowed any money from her inheritance or her savings, as he had it all locked off.

But she was no longer thinking about that. To be honest, her head was filled with bizarre thoughts of meteorology. Don't ask why, it just was. It was a completely clear night, and a new moon, making the stars provide the only light save for the city.

To be exact, she was thinking about how it was actually colder since there were no clouds there. It reminded her of her own situation in a way. The ideal position of being head of the company, like the cloudless sky, was hiding an ironic turmoil, like the colder temperature.

_Shit, now I'm thinking about that again…_ She thought angrily, flopping down so that she lay on her back with her legs still hanging. _All right, think about… kittens. Yeah, kittens._

"What'cha thinking about?"

Hinata felt the presence of someone besides her before seeing his or her silhouette against the deep blue sky. He sat next to her, staying sitting for a moment before exactly copying her position.

"Kittens," She muttered softly, not needing to look at his face to place a name. "You?"

"Ah… me too. Kittens plague my thoughts in every waking moment of my existence. They're just so awfully cute."

The sarcasm was thick on Sasuke's words, making her smile a little. "I …I don't know anything that can out-cute a kitten."

_Wow, she just set herself up…_ Sasuke thought, hiding a smirk. He had already reached the peak of his boldness-o-meter so a little shameless flirting would do no harm.

"Sometimes you can."

A light wind coursed through their little area, lifting their hair. They were both silent for a few moments before Sasuke decided to elaborate.

"Well, when you're not depressed and melancholy like this. Not when you're alone either, in which case it wouldn't matter since nobody would be around to see it."

"H-here I am hiding from the w-world after a terrible day, and you are trying to _flirt_ me back into happiness?" Hinata asked lightly, lifting her arm up in the air to put the tips of her fingers on top of a grouping of five stars that perfectly accommodated her hand.

Sasuke looked at her hand absentmindedly. "It was worth a try. I once saved a person's life by flirting…"

"Do tell."

"Well," he started, putting his hands behind his head as he turned his gaze to the stars. "This woman was on a bridge, the one on 2nd, and she was going to jump. As I was walking past her, I turned up the 'ol charm and made her beam and then step away from the edge."

"What did you say?"

"I told her she was pretty."

"You are q-quite the bullshitter."

"I try…"

"How'd you find me?" She asked lightly, turning her neck to look at him. She had jumped tracks quickly.

_Tell the truth or lie?_ Sasuke was at a crossroads. Lie and make her happy at him, or tell the truth and make her happy at Naruto. Decisions, decisions…

Of course, Uchihas were known for their lying, whether obvious or not.

"Actually,"

But maybe it was time for a change.

"Naruto found you."

There was a silence as he said this. After a few moments he turned his head to look at her. To his obvious surprise, she was looking right at him intensely.

"Then why did you come?"

That was the bad question. Though, he noted that she didn't ask why Naruto _didn't _come, she asked why he _did._

He had his answer. The time had finally come to crush her dreams with brutal honesty that didn't necessarily mean him confessing. His feelings were blatantly implied already.

"I care about you more than him."

_Shit, that sounded terrible. A lot worse than it sounded in my head…_

"Hn…" She muttered lightly, turning to face the sky again. "I… I respect your honesty. Guess I should give you some of my own then, right?"

_She's taking this rather well for being in love with him…_ He thought, staying silent to allow her to continue.

"I don't think I like him anymore."

It was as if Sasuke's mind was a train and it had just derailed, causing all of the cars connected to it to scrunch up like an accordion. "Oh."

"I thought you should know…"

"That's good."

She laughed. It was soft, but it was a _laugh_! "T-that's an interesting response…"

"Hn."

Once again she laughed, only this time it was louder and more cheerful. "Ah, but now that you have arrived how do you plan to bring me back?"

Sasuke smirked, though still facing the stars. "By bike?"

"Oh my… How will that ever work?"

"Not sure. For now lets just stay here."

Hinata smiled as she heard the unmistakable and cheesy little jingle that sounded when one turned off their phone. Nice move Sasuke…

From where they were, the rest of the world couldn't reach them.

Jeez, from Hinata's collegial troubles to Sasuke attempting to woo a worthwhile girl… growing up sucks.

* * *

**Oops. Short and not good. I almost drowned in the fluff by the end –throws huge sigh-**

**Well, here there it was. Sorry again for the terrible wait.**

**Scene's From Next Episode:**

**It was a cruel, cruel circle that he wasn't going to get out of on his own. Paradoxically, he wouldn't allow anyone to be with him if he had anything to say about it. That door would remain locked for all eternity for all he cared.**


	14. A Labyrinthine Love

**Omg, what is this… an update? It can't be!**

**Why, I haven't done this in… oh who knows how many days?**

**But it's here now. As well as some nooby fan art drawn by moi! The website lies on my profile, somewhere in the top middle-ish area. It is art to congratulate the random number of review on this little bugger, a secure 136! Fuck yeah!**

**Keep reviewing, and I will for sure put another random-number-of-reviews congratulatory piece of work! Cha!**

**Copyright to Masashi Kishimoto… bleh!**

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke had always been calm, cool, and collected almost to the point of indifference. He had always taken after the example of his late father and wayward brother, who were both the epitome of the Triple C (calm, cool, and collected).

For example, when he was a child of 6 years, the family dog died. Sasuke had been overwhelmed with grief of losing his beloved Snuffles and, being a kid, went to his mother and cried his eyes out, all the while complaining about the cruelty of the world as eloquent as a 6-year-old could with their minute vocabulary. Even as a child, he understood what death was and hated it.

Then he saw his dad and other brother Itachi come in to speak with his mother, while Sasuke was crying hard enough to make Niagara Falls proud. The pair of them was aloof and most importantly NOT crying their eyes out.

Little Sasuke stopped crying quickly. If they weren't, why should he? From that moment on, he always tried to follow Itachi's example. He became another embodiment of the Triple C.

But now, Uchiha Sasuke was broken. It was as if he magically turned back into the emotional 6-year-old of his past and Snuffles had died all over again. He wasn't crying like that, but judging off of the way he felt, he should have been.

I mean, who wouldn't lose it when they figured out that their idol, their _older brother_ was notorious murderer of the Uchiha family save one.

Our hero was taking things rather poorly.

Nobody had heard nor seen him in three days and when someone came by he just ignored the perpetrator and when someone called he claimed to have the flu.

Oh, maybe it'd be good to know how the rest of Sasuke and Hinata's night went from last chapter. To be frank, they just lied next to each other in a silence that was occasionally broken by some odd observation (ie: "Your hair smells like peaches…" from Hinata and "It's supposed to rain for the next four days…" from Sasuke).

Sasuke thought he had made his feelings completely obvious, but Hinata was still as oblivious as ever. Seriously, the only one more unaware than her about romance was Naruto. It was counterintuitive because Hinata was normally very good about reading people and making correct deductions.

It was three days from that happy encounter and Sasuke and Hinata hadn't talked (naturally, considering he shut himself in his apartment). The weatherman had, for once, been spot on in his prediction considering it had been raining for three days and showed no signs of stopping.

Nobody knew about the news of Itachi's familial murdering, and Naruto was the only one to know that his family had been killed as opposed to just all dying naturally (or as natural as dying can be).

The second-to-last Uchiha was holed up with all the lights off and only the feeble, cloud-covered light coming through his sliding-glass balcony window illuminated the now messy apartment. He was currently playing Halo II lazily, lying on his back with the controller in his lap. When an elite snuck behind him and killed him one shot he threw the controller at the console and rubbed his hands over his face in despair that was not from the stupid game.

One of his arms fell to the floor off of his couch while the other one rested on his bare chest. (A/N: I put that fact in simply because I am female…) _Fucking elite…_ He thought, feeling as though it had been that particular elite that massacred his family.

The restart option was dinging but he just ignored it and rolled onto his side. Video games hadn't done anything, just like reading and watching movies hadn't. All he could think about was Itachi and when he did that he became overwhelmed with grief. The grief led him to wondering why his brother would do such a thing, which took his mind away from the sadness and instead was filled with anger. Then he would think about it all again and become depressed.

It was a cruel, cruel circle that he wasn't going to get out of on his own. Paradoxically, he wouldn't allow anyone to be with him if he had anything to say about it. That door would remain locked for all eternity for all he cared.

It'd take some improvised trespassing and then some for him to come to his senses.

* * *

_Who was I kidding when I told Sasuke I didn't like Naruto anymore? _Hinata thought bitterly, staring at the blonde that was sitting on Kiba's couch. His hair was slightly wet from the rain, having given his umbrella to Sakura, who sat next to him. It was true that she was slightly getting over him, but not to the extent she told Sasuke.

Naruto was just so… gah! There he sat, with a bright smile triggered only from getting out of the rain lighting up the whole room. His wet shirt was clinging to his toned chest, of which Hinata's eyes couldn't help flicking to.

"So, do you guys wanna help? This time we're serious, we're going to bust down his damn door." Naruto called loudly, his eyes burning with a fiery passion. Sakura and Naruto had come to enlist people to join their Ninja Mission: Retrieve Sasuke!

Hinata, who had been at Kiba's house hanging out, had honestly been sort of worried about the wayward Uchiha for the last few days, but felt no inclination to join the siege. She was worried by nature, but also unwilling to pry to by nature as well.

The pair of them (Kiba and Hinata) was making cookies. It was an inside joke between them that whenever they were alone together they baked. Sakura and Naruto had received quite the shock when they were led to the kitchen by Kiba's sister Hana, seeing Kiba furiously mixing a bowl of batter and Hinata laughing with what looked like a whole bag of flour all over her face and chest.

Cookies aside, the foursome now resided in Kiba's living room.

Kiba, as hotheaded as he always was, leapt to his feet at the proposal, half for Sasuke, half for the prospect of breaking down the door. "Yeah! Let's go!"

Shooting a small worried glance at her friend, Hinata sighed. "If it's his business—"

"Hinata, I'm sorry," Sakura interrupted, smiling sadly at her friend. "But you don't know him like we do. He needs support from friends, whatever the situation may be."

A little vein popped as she said this. "I know him better than you think…"

She said it quietly, but they heard her. Naruto smiled vaguely in her direction. "All the same, sometimes he needs to be beaten back into his senses,"

"I still don't that you guys should invade his privacy. If… if it really becomes a problem, then by all means go!" She said, very _very_ aware that she was the center of attention and the only one holding her point.

"But we won't know if it becomes a problem unless we make contact with him…" Kiba said wisely, taking his seat next to her and putting his arm around her in a friendly way.

Sakura looked from Naruto who was getting antsy to Kiba who was trying to persuade Hinata. She knew what she had to do now. "Hinata, just hold the fort here then!" She was smiling brightly as she relayed her plan. "We'll go and then call you if we get in! Just stay here and continue making the cookies! Or even better, once we get to him, bring them along!"

"Yeah!" Naruto called, his mouth hanging open happily as he stared at Sakura admiringly for her plan. "Good idea Sakura-chan!"

_Yes, quite a splendid idea Sakura-chan, maAar-velous even! _She thought, slightly surprised by the bitterness mixed in with the British accent.

"B-bringing the cookies would go against my 'don't pry' plan…" She muttered softly, unheard because Naruto was shouting something that had "Believe it!" at the end of it and Sakura was trying to calm him down.

They were out of the door before Hinata even really knew what had happened. There she stood in the hallway leading to the door, covered in white flour.

"Well, Kiba's a jackass, isn't he?"

She turned and saw Hana patting Akamaru. She had a pair of oven mitts in the hand not petting the dog that she held out for her. Hinata walked over lightly and took them.

"He... he's not a jackass, he's just brash." Hinata defended, following Hana back into the kitchen where the abandoned bowl of batter was settling. Not good. She began to re-stir it, glad when it began to regain its normal consistency.

Hana dug around in one of the lower cupboards, coming out with a flat pan on which to put the cookies. "I've always said it; you are too nice to be his best friend…"

Hinata smiled. "Well, we even each other out, I suppose. I wasn't going to stop him from going when he really wanted to."

"But still," Hana placed the pan on the counter and leaning on it as she stared at the Hyuga. "Some friends…"

"It-it's really not their fault, Sakura and Naruto were already set on it and Kiba wanted to go."

Hana stared pityingly at Hinata. "Like I said, you are too kind to be his, and their, friend. What was so important anyway?"

Hinata now started to take spoonfuls of the batter out and placed them daintily on the cookie sheet. A jar of crystallized sugar was next to her and dipped a fork in the sugar and made checkerboard markings on her peanut-butter cookies. "W-well, Sasuke, you know him, captain of the soccer team, has been holed up in his house for the last three days, claiming the flu. We all kn-know that's not true so they are going to try to talk to him. He won't see anyone."

"Uchiha Sasuke? Well, it's no surprise! He just figured out that his brother killed his whole family…"

_EH?!_

The fork that was in Hinata's hand fell out and clattered to the floor as she whipped her head around. Her heart was beating uncomfortably fast and she didn't know why. "W-what?"

Hana's face blanched at her reaction and she quickly covered her mouth with her hands. "I wasn't supposed to say that…" She said, muffled.

Everything was clicking in Hinata's mind. Hana worked for the police as a detective, and if there was any recently solved mystery she would know about it.

_He told me his whole family died, not that they were killed! That really _was _dangerous territory to be questioning around in…_ Hinata gasped lightly, but not at what Hana had said. _Oh god, I'm such a hypocrite! Here I am saying not to be nosy when that one time I questioned him to the edge of his wits! What's wrong with me?_

"Hinata-chan? Oi!" Hana muttered, trying to get Hinata out her self-induced trance.

She snapped out of it quickly and looked at Hana with terrified eyes. "Please tell me more about what happened!"

Hana could never say no to her, especially when her notorious puppy dog eyes were preformed. She explained that four days ago the murder was solved and that three days ago the police had contacted Sasuke about it. His other brother Itachi had murdered his whole family, and for some reason had spared him.

While Hana explained, Hinata started to furiously finish the cookies, a plan already formulating in her head. After throwing the pan of cookies in the oven, Hinata asked to use the shower to get rid of all the flour in her hair. Hana obliged, starting to piece together what Hinata's plan was.

Hinata made a pit stop in Kiba's room to collect her clothes (for she had been wearing some stuff of Kiba's for the cookie making), and then ran for the shower to attempt to clean some of the flour out of her hair.

_Sakura was right without even knowing the problem. He does need someone there to be with. Even ice queens need to vent to someone!_ As the cold water cascaded over her back, Hinata sighed. She liked cold showers in the summer, even if it was rainy out.

She remembered their game of 20 Questions, and her brilliant deduction. _"Is it because of your lack of familial love…?"_

He didn't know how to ask someone for consolation because he normally would never need to be consoled. Sasuke didn't have a family to grow up with so he created Sakura and Naruto into his family. At the same time, Sakura and Naruto were his best friends and so, being proud, he didn't want them (or anybody for that matter) to see him in a pitiful state.

Because of that she felt she _needed_ to help. With her knowledge, she was the only one who stood a chance at making him feel better.

There was a nagging doubt at the back of her mind however. _What if he doesn't accept me_?

She grit her teeth as she thought of that. He had admitted that he cared about her four days ago, and she needed to admit it to him as well. It was true, she did care about him.

She had to try.

* * *

Sasuke's circle of thought was indeed a bad one. It started with grief of the lack of family, then to anger at Itachi, then to anger at himself for idolizing Itachi, then to despair at his inability to choose a good hero, then to doubt of everything he had ever did that followed even a little in his brother's footsteps (which was a lot), then to his friends that were undoubtedly worried about him, then to people like Sakura and Kiba who had a loving family, and then back to grief about his family again to complete the circle and start it all over. (A/N: longest sentence ever.)

He was still on the couch, in the exact same position as he was when he threw the controller. _I'm pitiful…_

A very aggravated knocking on his door tuned him in to his surroundings. The knocking was followed by yelling from Naruto and Kiba and slightly quieter consolations from Sakura.

"TEME! GET YOUR SCRAWNY ASS TO THIS DOOR AND OPEN--!"

"Sasuke, please please open the door, we want to talk--!"

"Oi, what the fuck is wrong?"

_Naruto, Sakura and Kiba. Are they going to try to muscle down my door?_ Sasuke knew that both Naruto and Kiba were pretty strong and he also knew that Sakura was the kickboxing champion in the tri-city area. _Probably._

He did not move from his position and instead tried to just ignore them like he had been doing. He noted the silence of his attackers and wondered what they were planning. Then he heard a giant slam on it, followed by others with varying degrees of intensity.

_That's bad for the door._

He knew he had to do something now. They were serious. Slowly and laboriously he got up off of his back and stood up. His footsteps were silent as he made his way over to the door, pausing for a moment to observe himself in a mirror on his way. Though lit by the shady natural light, he could still see himself clearly.

Slightly mussed hair, skin slightly paler than normal and shadows under his tired eyes were the only things that were different from his normal appearance. All in all he still looked regal and attractive (to put it bluntly).

Obviously not caring that he was indeed shirtless and wearing only baggy pajama bottoms, he opened his door quietly right after they pounded it, to ensure his safety. He was met with a surprised Sakura who immediately blushed slightly but got over it, an angry Kiba who shared the same look of shock as Sakura, and a pissed-as-hell Naruto.

Before any of them could speak, Sasuke opened his mouth and spoke for the first time in a while. The sound was hoarse and scratchy, as if he really had the flu.

"Please refrain from breaking my door."

As he said this, the door was already closing and he was turning his back to them. "If you do it again I'll call the police."

Uh oh. He was serious as always… and pissed as always.

As the door closed on Kiba he barked a laugh. "My sister works for the police, she's not going to—"

It was quiet, but through the door the three outside heard Sasuke interrupt. "All the more reason for her to take you… you can't trust siblings…"

There was a shocked silence after he said this. Naruto ended it when he shook his head to clear it of his confusion. "What was that about?"

Sakura took one last long look at his door before turning and beginning to walk down the hall. "I don't know."

Naruto and Kiba followed her like puppies, with the blonde casting one last glance back at his best friend's closed door.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, why are we leaving?" Naruto asked as they pressed the button for the elevator. As they were on the top floor, there was only the down arrow.

Sakura waited until the elevator reached them to speak. "I've never seen him like that before."

They all stepped in while Kiba gaped in confusion. "Shirtless? I'm sure you ha—"

"No…"

She spoke quietly, staring straight ahead at the slightly reflective door. Naruto knew what she was talking about. "His eyes…"

Sakura looked at him quickly, locking her green eyes on his blue. "Yeah. They look… dead."

Kiba thought about it for a minute. It was true that his eyes looked glazed, zombiefied.

(A/N: Hard to describe, I was going for how some animators draw the eyes kind of blurry and dull when a person dies. I'm thinking in particular one of the last scenes in FMA where Envy stabs Ed and his eyes just go… blah. It scared me so much…)

"I don't know what we can do." Sakura stated, rather calmly for having her best friend turn into a zombie.

Hinata entered the lobby of the apartment building when she heard the ding that preceded the opening of an elevator. She just managed to glimpse a head of pink hair before darting away behind the mercifully empty desk. _Ninja mode…_ she thought, smiling in spite of the situation.

Sakura, Kiba and Naruto passed by the desk in silence, each noticeably lost in thought. They were just about to exit through the revolving doors when she heard Kiba speak.

"Maybe he got bitten by a zombie…"

_What?_

Naruto chuckled nervously, casting a glance up at the ceiling. "Or maybe a vampire…"

_What?!_

"Um, excuse me miss?"

Hinata turned around to see the lobbyist looking down at her, holding a bento box for lunch. She immediately turned as red as a pomegranate and stood up, bowing low. "G-gomennasai!"

She scampered away and he just shook his head, mumbling about weird kids. Fearing that her cover was blown she threw a look over he shoulder at the door and was relieved when the three weren't there.

Quickly pressing the up button on the elevator, she nervously waited, pressing the pads of her fingers together. When it finally came she jumped in, slamming down on the 'Close Door' button. Sighing when it finally closed, she lightly pressed the button of the top floor.

The rising sensation of the elevator made her nerves even worse.

* * *

Sasuke, totally at a loss of what to do, went back to his couch and sat down cross-legged with his hands resting on his knees. He was grumbling to himself. _I swear to God, if I get one more person knocking on my door I will punch them through the mouth. _

**Knock. Knock.**

The knocks were soft, not at all like the banging of Naruto, Sakura and Kiba. But the fact still remained that it still belonged to someone who wanted to bother him.

"Go away!" He barked, smiling evilly to himself when the knocks stopped and he heard soft footfalls heading away.

A part of him wondered who it was but another, stronger part decided that he didn't care.

After ten minutes, he heard a disturbance outside his window. After brushing it off as the wind, he turned his neck so that he was staring constantly out of his sliding glass window, taking in the dark clouds, the rain and the occasional flashes of lightning.

That's when he saw a foot dangling at the top of the window wearing a neat black flat. The other foot came into view shortly after he saw the first one. _What the hell?_

It happened directly when the brightest bolt of lightning occurred. During the flash, the seemingly unknown owner of the flats jumped off the roof and landed on his balcony.

Cool right? But sadly, a tremendous roll of thunder sounded right as she (for she was definitely a she based on the long hair, though it may have been Neji) landed, scaring her and ultimately making her slip on a particularly wet patch of wood. She fell straight down, landing hurtfully on her side. Coolness ended.

Nothing seemed to happen to Sasuke when he saw Hinata's face turning to look at him, traces of pain obvious. Normally his whole being would skip a beat when she turned her white eyes to him, but he felt nothing.

Well, that wasn't true, he felt a little apprehensive for what would happen now, considering his balcony door was locked and he didn't want to get up. _I'll just ignore her as I did to the others._

She was still sprawled on the ground when he vaguely noticed that she carried a bundle in the form of a backpack with her, one she was clutching when she jumped. He then noticed that she was very wet. _So what?_

Hinata stared at Sasuke through the glass sliding door that stood between them. Her shins were throbbing from her less-than-perfect landing and the rain fell on her head but she didn't really care. He was just there, staring at her apathetically, almost as if he was already bored with a girl risking her life and dropping from the sky to get to him.

But she felt no anger towards him. Rather self-consciously she threw him a little wave, at which he did nothing. Getting up despite the slight pain in her legs, she grabbed the bag with one hand and reached to open the door with the other.

_Denied._ Sasuke thought lazily, watching her pull lightly against the handle to no avail. He was being a cruel ass, but in his eyes he was allowed to be! Itachi killed his whole family!

If he thought that a locked door would stop her, he was just stupid. He failed to think about how she had nowhere else to go except into his house or up onto the roof again, which, sadly, she couldn't with her mere 160 cm.

She took her hand off the handle daintily and leaned over to peer through the crack between the door and the doorframe that she had noticed was a flaw in his door when she had been here last. Grinning lightly she was glad that he lacked the drive to fix it.

Ignoring the rain that was starting to get into her collar and down her back, Hinata unzipped her backpack and took out a small object that glinted off a flash of lightning.

Sasuke showed no signs of alarm or surprise at the new happening. Despite that, curiosity bugged at him to figure out what she was going to do with a bit of metal.

Through the rain washed window, he saw her unbend whatever she had so it had doubled its length.

_A bobby pin? _He had seen Sakura with those paperclip-like hair tools many times, so he could identify it as such.

She curved it a full 180 degrees at one end so it looked like an odd hook. After molding it to her satisfaction, she crouched to the ground to that she was at eyelevel with the lock. Owing to the design of all sliding door locks, she knew that if she could just get under it and push it up enough, she would be clear to open the door.

_Mild-mannered heiress Hyuga Hinata, initially revealing an unexpected talent with firearms, appears to also dabble in the criminal field of lock picking. _He thought it'd make a good newspaper subtitle, with a bold title of: _Heiress leads, not a double, but a triple-life._

Hinata found herself in a small spot of bother when after slipping the pin into the small crack; her tries had amounted to naught. Closing her eyes, she tried again, moving slower and more deliberately. Finally, after one good minute with her eyes closed, she felt what she thought would be the perfect position and pulled up. She sighed in relief when the lock moved up and she slid the door open.

Sasuke and Hinata stared at each other for a small moment as the door rolled open. She stood up and was halfway in, standing on the threshold with her bag over one shoulder.

She was wearing a light yellow summer dress that now clung to her figure from the rain. She also wore a small grey jacket that had short sleeves and only went right below her breasts at most when zipped. That too was wet.

"Y-you could have helped." She muttered lightly, shooting him one of her genuinely sweet smiles. So sweet your teeth would rot just by looking at it.

Sasuke was unaffected, probably because Inner Sasuke just died from overexposure to too much cuteness. It was pretty evened out. He just looked at her with no discernable expression on his pale face. "You wanted me to help you break into my home?"

_Still the same callous guy as usual. He looks so sad though…_ Hinata had to at least give him what she had brought in her bag, as well as maybe a hug. After that she would leave at his insistence. "Illegality aside, may I come in?"

_She'll be polite even when dooms day comes around…_ He thought, not changing his expression or stature at all.

She seemed to take his silence as assent because she stepped lightly into his house, with her dripping shoes in one hand and her slightly wet backpack slung over her shoulder.

So began the most awkward visit in the long and awkward history of awkward visits. She deposited her shoes at his front door and then walked to the kitchen where she put down her pack on the counter. Sasuke was watching her the whole time, trying to figure out what the hell she was doing in his apartment.

When she turned on his oven on low and put something that had been in her bag onto the metal grate inside, Sasuke had to ask.

"What are you doing?"

Hinata didn't answer immediately. First she took out a tea pot and a single mug from his cupboards and then moved them over to the stove. "T-taking care of you."

She didn't look at him, which was probably a good thing because he shot her the most evil glare imaginable. Apparently even the irresistible cuteness of Hinata couldn't get him out of his death mood, if anything it made it worse.

It was as if the last few weeks of bonding just disappeared. So much for baby steps…

There was a terrible silence where a sudden boom of thunder rolled, at which she flinched. Sasuke was the one to break it, this time speaking in a monotonous voice.

"You know." It wasn't a question.

Hinata, who still had her back to him, needed something to do with her now shaking hands, so she grabbed another mug from the cupboards.

"You know what happened." Sasuke sounded a lot louder than before, implying he had gotten up and walked into the kitchen. What scared Hinata was that she hadn't heard him move at all.

"Y-yes." She muttered, glad to have something to do with her hands once she found a little smudge on the mug. Although she was shaking so much, cleaning it was making almost negative progress. She didn't know why she was so scared of him. The storm was one thing, but most of her fear spawned because of the dark and obviously pissed off man standing in his kitchen.

Sasuke's voice now had a bite of anger in it. "How?"

Hinata shut her eyes tightly for a moment before opening them again, trying to rid herself of the unexplainable nervousness. "K-kiba's sister."

That made sense to Sasuke. Hana had been one of the people who had come to tell him about… the incident. "So, with that knowledge you felt that you were the only person who could help me?"

His tone was so angry that Hinata had to clasp her hands together to stop them from shaking. But the shaking was from an odd combination of fear and anger. Because of this, she turned around suddenly, her eyes narrowed.

"Y-yes actually!" Sasuke was standing with his arms across his chest as he stood squarely in front of her. Hinata's hands were balled in fists as she held them by her sides. "I c-couldn't just let you hide away and stew in your grief like this!"

A flash of lightning illuminated the dark apartment, followed by more thunder, louder this time. Sasuke noted vaguely that she flinched at the thunder again. He also noticed that her voice was getting a little more shrill and uncontrolled. _Why?_

"Yes you could have. It would have been easier actually." He responded coldly. "But now, what are you going to do now that you've quite literally fallen into my grief stew?"

_That sounded like him… Normal Sasuke would say something blunt like that. _Hinata thought, and that idea gave her a lick of courage.

Sasuke's tone of voice was calm, a lot better than his angry accusations before. Their little fight had gotten intense quickly, but he had just headed it off. _He is so confusing!_ Hinata thought. _Almost as if he doesn't think about what he's saying._

"Like I said before... I'm going to take care of you." Before Sasuke could even react, Hinata had crossed the distance between him and raised her hand.

Driven by pure instinct, he leaned away from her hand, but she still accomplished her goal: cupping his cheek. Her hand was so cold, it felt almost clammy.

_His skin is burning…_ She realized her eyes widening as she moved her hand to rest on his forehead, at which she quickly drew away. "You're running a fever."

_Oh, so I actually fell into my lie. Nice…_ Sasuke thought bitterly, staring down at her worried pearly eyes. Another peal of thunder made Hinata jump again. _Is she afraid of the storm?_

Motherly instincts began to take over her as she grabbed him by the shoulders and lowered him into a chair that was by his island counter. He didn't even know what happened in the whirlwind of her motions, but one moment he was standing and the next he had a steaming mug of tea in front of him and a blanket over his shoulders.

He stared at the cup for a bit, unwilling to drink it. Hinata came back into the kitchen with a big puffy hoodie she had found in his closet. It was the one from Track last year. When she saw that he hadn't drank any of it she sat opposite him and placed her hands over his on the mug he was holding. "Drink."

Sasuke looked up at her and then to the sweatshirt that she had placed on the counter. True, he was cold as all hell and had been this whole day, but it seemed that he was subconsciously torturing himself. He'd rather feel the odd pain of the cold than the nothing he had been for the previous days.

On top of it all, he wouldn't drink the tea, having no appetite to speak of. It probably came from the fact that he hadn't eaten in the three days he had become recluse. Yikes.

Hinata stared at his eyes, reading his uneasiness. "Please drink it."

He noticed that she was shivering from her wet clothes. "It'd do better if you drank it."

"D-don't give me that!" She was getting angry now. As angry as Hinata could get without going Rambo anyway. "You're ill! You have to get better!"

He was silent, starting to be aware of the feeling of her cold hands on his feverish ones. It was a shame when she pulled them away.

Her voice was shrill and disbelieving. "Don't tell me you… you haven't been eating!"

True indeed.

"Why does it matter?" Sasuke asked softly, but with a bite of anger.

_Is he stupid?_ "Because you're killing yourself!"

"Why are you trying to help me?" Sasuke asked monotonously. His questions all had an inner meaning that was the worthiness of his own existence.

"Because I care about you so much! I couldn't _stand _it if you actually killed yourself because of this! We all want you back Sasuke!"

She was almost yelling at him, trying to make him see reason to let other people help him. Sasuke's mouth opened a little in shock, but he said nothing. The silence allowed her to keep plowing through her speech.

"We need you to be back before we all leave and never see each other again! _I_ need you Sasuke!"

He was shocked._ What did she say?_

"I care about you more than you even know! More than you'll probably ever know!"

She was just going long on this one. All the thoughts built up over the last few weeks were just pouring out now like a dam bursting.

"You were there for me when I fell apart, twice! I rely on you to… to pick me up! Why won't you let me do the same?!" Was that some hint of tears in her eyes?

_What is going on? Why does she feel like this?_

Hinata was overreacting completely, but it still worked.

"Why can't you just—" She started weekly before stopping when Sasuke raised the mug to his lips suddenly and downed about half of it. "—drink the tea…?"

It burned his throat going down, but the disbelieving look on her face made him smirk.

"Got it. What now?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at the stunned girl.

"Uh—put on the s-sweater."

A labyrinthine love indeed.

* * *

**Angst. Angst. Angst. Angst. Lol, Harry Potter puppet pals. Normally I hate watching those, but the angst one is pretty fucking sweetsauce.**

**This is kind of to counteract the fluff bomb of last chapter.**

**Also, I took Hinata's fear of the storm from Haruhi of Ouran High School Host Club because I love her and everyone else in that manga/anime.**

**Scenes From The Next Episode:**

**_Good night my angel time to close you eyes  
And save these questions for another day  
I think I know what you've been asking me  
I think you know what I've been trying to say_**

I promised I would never leave you  
And you should always know  
Where ever you may go  
No matter where you are  
I never will be far away


	15. Mellifluous Medicine

**Be warned… -holds arms in front of chest to ward off evil-**

**There is a song in this one…**

**Forgive me if you hate songfics, but I couldn't help it! I just learned the song myself in choir and I love it.**

**This isn't supposed to be a songfic, it just has a song.**

**With that over with… FUCK YEAH! I so fucking told someone in a response to a review that I'd have this out within the week and look! Here it is!**

**I am SO bitchin!**

**Wow, I probably shouldn't be so happy with myself but you guys must admit that this is infinitely better than the month or two I had been having between updates.**

**Copyright to… not me. Lol, Kishimoto and the sweet Billy Idol who supplied me with the song I used.**

* * *

_He must be feverish, because this is just weird… _Hinata thought vaguely, watching him take off the blanket and snuggle into the sweatshirt. _He probably isn't thinking straight and won't even remember what he's been doing…_

Sasuke drank the rest of his tea quickly and silently, and then looked at her for more orders. His face was so emotionless, but he was still obliging to her demands.

He was starting to feel it. As if a curtain was drawn to reveal a world of destruction and terror. He began to shake, to feel the cold air and also his hot skin. Exhaustion consumed him, and yet he still couldn't submit to sleep. He had gotten over his stubborn ignorance of what he was doing to him self. Nice.

"Uh… you…" Hinata stammered, trying to wrap her mind around the ever-so-sudden change of tact.

Was it just now, or had she always noticed how handsome he was? Just sitting there, a display of pure human perfection, albeit a pale and rather sickly looking one. Who's Naruto?

"Y-you should probably… lie down."

She quickly made her way to the other side of the island and clutched his shoulders, beginning to steer him out of his seat and to where she knew his room was. Uncharacteristically, he let her, obviously not caring about the ever-present 'man pride' that ran thick through his veins.

To her horror, when she entered she noticed that his bed was perfectly made. It was evidence of its lack of use. "You… you haven't slept either? Oh Sasuke…"

He vaguely noticed the sadness and worry in her voice. It made him feel terribly guilty for being such an ass to her when she first came. He _did _need help, he knew that now. If anyone could barge in and destroy his carefully built barriers with almost relentless kindness, it was this girl.

"I haven't been able to…" He muttered, closing his eyes for her to lead him to a better place. Or had she done that already?

Hinata made sure to pull back the blanket before lowering him down onto his sheets. She reckoned that he didn't want to sleep for fear of nightmares about whatever happened that day… when it all happened. "Is there anything I can do to help you sleep?"

No stutter… wow.

He was out of his right mind. He was feverish and disorientated. That's why he said it. Well, that's what she couldn't help but think anyway, because she couldn't fathom any other reason.

"Just be here. With me."

For the first time in… ever, adult Uchiha Sasuke was cute. Hiding all bundled up in the down comforter with only his pale face sticking out, his eyes half-closed. He immediately curled up with his knees to his chest, taking up about 2ft by 2ft of space. He was feverish and wouldn't remember any of this, but the fact still remained that he was just too… damn… cute.

So she sat on the bed next to him with her legs hanging off. Her voice came out in a whisper. "Okay."

They stayed like that for a few minutes while Hinata's hand slowly drifted to what was showing of his face. _I'm checking his temperature… that's all. _

She could feel the heat even from two inches away. Even though she could already feel it, she still touched down on his forehead, her fingertips skimming it lightly. His bangs were sticking to his face and so she started to play with them a little, running her fingers through. It came from a completely innocent 'he's probably uncomfortable with his hair sticking to his skin', but there was a little part of her that scolded her for unnecessary touching.

Keyword little. She continued to play with his hair for a while before noticing that she was totally neglecting her caretaking duties.

"Oh! I f-forgot the washcloth… I'm going to leave for a minute, okay?" She said, pushing his bangs to the side of his face and out of his eyes for good measure.

Sasuke said nothing, only stiffened his body a little. She took that as permission to leave so she quickly got up and hurried out of his room and to the kitchen, almost glad she got out of there for she had suddenly gotten dizzy.

_My heart is pumping madly, my head is spinning…_ She touched the skin on her cheeks lightly. _My skin is burning… am I catching his sickness?_ At the island counter, she pressed all her weight onto it, holding herself up with her hands clutching the edge.

She tried to concentrate on her breathing, to control it. _In… Out… I can't believe I forgot how to breathe… I can't even imagine what he must be feeling if this is killing me like this…_

Hyuga Hinata really didn't get it. She just _didn't_. Uchiha Sasuke did, oh how he did. Twas a little thing called Love Sickness.

_Oh yeah, washcloth!_

But before getting that, she stumbled to the closet where she had found the sweater she gave him and opened one of the doors. After strained searching, she managed to find another hoodie, this time one from soccer. It was black with red stitching that said 'Konoha Soccer' on the front in bold letters and with his last name printed on one arm and CAPTAIN stitched into the other arm.

Her clothes were now more-or-less dry so she slipped the hoodie over her head, pausing for a minute before it was properly on to revel in it's softness and distinct smell.

_Now where does he keep his washcloths?_

* * *

When Hinata returned to his room, she warily stepped in, both hands clutching the damp rag. At first glance, it looked as if Sasuke were asleep until she walked around the bed and saw his eyes. They were half-open and completely fixated on one spot.

As she came closer, his dark eyes flicked up to her face for a moment before flitting back to where he had been staring. She daintily placed the folded rag on his forehead, rearranging it so it was dead center.

"S-still can't sleep?"

He didn't respond, but just simply buried his head further in the blankets. It was so cute she just had to smile at his antics. "You're just like a little kid."

Sasuke stopped fidgeting as she said that. _A little kid?_

"Hn," He grunted, coming a little more out of his cavern. It was adorably reminiscent of a turtle.

If he was indeed a little kid… then some options were now open to him. What was that thing that was always done to kids when they couldn't sleep? Oh yeah…

"A little bird told me you sing." He gurgled, his eyes not meeting her bewildered ones.

She blushed, slightly angry at the 'little bird', also known as the traitor Kiba. "W-why does it matter?"

Sasuke could actually hear the almighty Light Bulb of Understanding go off in her mind. "You w-want me t-to sing to you? Sasuke, I…"

Stubbornness and illness must go hand in hand. "I won't sleep until you sing to me."

Perhaps he was just a little kid in a grown up's body.

"I… I don't know any lullabies…"

"Liar."

Hinata was taken aback by both his bluntness and the fact that he was right. Who _doesn't_ know at least one lullaby?

"Uh… well…" She stuttered, sitting on the side of the bed with her legs hanging off like she was doing before retrieving the sweater and washcloth.

Sasuke actually looked up at her, his tired black eyes performing a sort of inverse puppy-dog (A/N: does that make sense?), one that was more like he was appraising her. "Sing the prettiest one you know… please?" He added the please as an afterthought.

One immediately popped into mind, but she was still hesitant. It was a ballad exchanged between lovers, to be frank. Were they anything close to that? She cared about him deeply and was pretty sure he felt the same… he wouldn't take it as any type of confession, would he? But who was to say it wasn't a confession? But why on earth would she be confessing in the first place? _This is so confusing!_

Hinata was fighting with her own mind. She knew that he wouldn't even remember, so what was the problem? He seemed to be telling the truth, as she knew him to be pretty stubborn. It was true that he probably wouldn't sleep until she… _Here goes nothing._

"_Goodnight, my angel_

_Time to close your eyes_

_And save these questions for another day_

_I think I know what you've been asking me_

_I think you know what I've been trying to say._

_I promised I would never leave you_

_And you should always know_

_Wherever you may go_

_No matter where you are_

_I never will be far away."_

Her voice was a little different than what he had expected. He thought that it would be higher, definitely soprano, which it was. What baffled him was the strength and clarity behind it. He found it unnecessary to look at her, so he just closed his eyes and exposed his ears.

Hinata had long stopped blushing. She seemed to draw an odd strength from singing, and soon forgot her discomforts.

"_Goodnight, my angel_

_Now it's time to sleep_

_And still so many things I want to say_

_Remember all the songs you sang for me_

_When we went sailing on an emerald bay._

_And like a boat out on the ocean_

_I'm rocking you to sleep_

_The water's dark and deep_

_Inside this ancient heart_

_You'll always be a part of me.__"_

Sasuke felt himself calming a little. Her singing just seemed to weigh down on him, making him start to slowly believe that everything would be okay. While far from putting him to sleep, Hinata's lullaby had more-or-less achieved its original goal.

"_Goodnight, my angel_

_Now it's time to dream_

_And dream how wonderful your life will be_

_Someday your child may cry_

_And if you sing this lullaby_

_Then in your heart_

_There will always be a part of me._

_Someday we'll all be gone_

_But lullabies go on and on..._

_They never die_

_That's how you_

_And I _

_Will be."_

Hinata faded out, suddenly becoming self-conscious. _Why on earth did I do that? _

_I think that woke me up more…_ Sasuke thought, debating whether or not to venture out of his warmth bubble.

She started fidgeting with a corner of the comforter that Sasuke was hiding in, a blush making short work of her face. Under the covers, he just lie there curled up in his little ball.

_Naruto, you fucking dumbass._ He thought bitterly, trying to wonder what the hell has been running through that blonde baka's head for the last, oh who knows how many years? _How can he not be head-over-heels for her when she dotes on him so much?_

_**Aha, but remember what she said? She doesn't like him anymore…**_Inner Sasuke decided to make his grand entrance after abandoning his host body for the last three days.

_She said that she doesn't _think_ she likes him anymore… that's a different story. _

_**No it's not and you know it.**_

_Oh, fuck off; you're not even real!_

_**Baka, I'm just as real as you. Psh, you just admitted to being crazy, you know that right?**_

"Uh… Sasuke?"

He jerked slightly out of his cove upon hearing her, abolishing any doubts of hers that he had fallen asleep.

_She just wants to get out of here… she wants me to sleep so she can ditch…_ He thought, bringing to life the nagging idea that she just wanted him to be better for her own conscious, so she wouldn't be the one who killed him.

"I… I… you should know that I'm going to stay here until you get better. E-even if you want me to leave before that."

_Or not._

Sasuke spoke, his voice cracking slightly. "Think you can take that much time away?"

He just heard her, having had his eyes closed since she had started to sing. Her speaking voice was a lullaby on its own to him. "Well, I'll tell otousama I'm sleeping at Sakura's, tell _her_ I'm on a chaste sleepover w-with Kiba. We've done it before actually…"

_Good plan… it was as if she had been sitting on it for a while._

"That's what I though about when I was riding the elevator, g-granted you accepted my hospitality…"

Sasuke chuckled out loud, for his theory had been completely true.

"What?" She asked, mockingly offended.

"Oh, nothing. You're just cute."

A great shiver rose from the small of her back as he said this. From what she did not know, but afterward she couldn't help but shake from an abominable cold that she started to feel. _I have to tell otousama… then call Sakura and tell her about the lie so she doesn't mess it up…_

"I have to leave for a moment, alright?" Her voice took on a very motherly air, as if she was talking to a puppy.

"Hn,"

* * *

_I can't talk to otousama, we're still on sticky terms with each other… Oh, Hanabi-chan!_

"_Hey Hinata-nee…"_ Hanabi's voice was a little wary over the phone. Tensions were still a little bad and Hanabi didn't want to be the one who accidentally broke it all.

"Hanabi-chan… how's it going?" Hinata asked, taking a seat in one of the high-legged chairs by the counter. She was still shivering, so she hugged her arms to her, holding the phone with her shoulder.

"_Uh, well nothing much has happened in the four hours since I've seen you last…"_

Hinata laughed nervously, raising one hand out of her tight hold and feeling her forehead with it. Yeah, definitely a little warm… "R-right. Could you do me a favor maybe?"

"_Sure, what do you need?" _

"Could you, ah… tell otousama that I'm staying at Sakura's tonight? I would but…"

Hanabi laughed softly on the other line. _"No you wouldn't actually. But yeah, I've got you covered. Seriously though… what are you _really_ doing?"_

Hinata went pale. _How can she tell I'm lying over the phone?_ "Well, I, uh, wanted to go to Kiba's tonight…"

"_That's also a lie, isn't it?"_

"What makes you say that?"

"_Come on nee-chan, I'm your dearest, loving sister. I'm not going to rat you out…"_

She realized that there was no harm in telling her. Hanabi was mad at their father as well, and she wouldn't exactly gain anything from tattling.

"_Are you with that total fox, Sasuke again? Yes, I know, Neji told me."_

"Eh? Ano… well… yes actually I am."

"_That's hot."_ She said it so nonchalantly that Hinata smiled.

"He's sick and I… kinda broke into his house and forced my company on him until he accepted it?" She ended it in a question, just to lighten the mood a little.

"_Right… are you sick now too?" _Hanabi asked in the same slightly amused voice from before.

"Yes, actually…"

"_Dirty little girl…"_

"Wha—oh! No Hanabi, we didn't kiss!" As she said that, she realized how that seemed to be the case. He was sick and now she was too… ooh la laa.

"_Hm, maybe you didn't. Oh, I got it!"_

"What…?"

"_Give him a kiss from me, okay? But you can say it's from you I suppose, I have no problem with that…" _

Hinata heard low coughing from inside Sasuke's room, leaving only one culprit. _Shit! What if he's coughing up blood?! I have to be there!_ "Ah! Fine, I'll do that… he's coughing and I… oh my. Okay okay okay, can you call Sakura for me?" Hanabi could distinctly hear the coughing even over the phone. "Tell her to initiate Operation: Doghouse, alright? Oh, but don't tell her that I'm at Sasuke's though. I'll call you tomorrow. Love you Hana."

"_Yeah, yeah. Tell me how my kiss went okay?"_

As the call disconnected, Hanabi smirked, knowing that Hinata heard what she said last. _Looks like someone moved on from a certain blonde…_ She thought while locating Sakura in her contact list. Hanabi and Sakura both took kickboxing, so they had exchanged numbers.

The phone dialed twice before Sakura picked up, sounding a little hassled. _"Hanabi-chan, what is it?"_

"Sakura-neechan, I bear a message from Hinata."

"_No offence, why didn't she just call me?"_

Hanabi chuckled, falling backward over the arm of the couch and flicking on the widescreen TV. A new episode of a show she liked was starting soon.

"She forgot her phone here. Uh, where are you?"

Hyuga were known across the world for their quick wit.

"_Ichiraku's with Naruto and Kiba… oh, well Kiba's leaving now so just Naruto and I."_

As perverted as ever, Hanabi couldn't help but take a crack at that one. "And after the date? Better wear protection Sakura…"

"_Shut up little freshman." _Sakura joked, laughing as she said it. It was all in good fun. _"What's Hinata's message?_"

"She says to, and I quote: 'Initiate Operation: Doghouse."

"_Ah, sleepover at Kiba's… All right, I'll keep the secret in case Hiashi-san calls! Thanks Hanabi. I'll talk to you later, in class okay?" _

"See you Sakura-nee…" Hanabi muttered, canceling the call. She then lightly tossed the phone at the plush carpet and began to watch her show; all the while the storm that seemed to have passed was pushed aside by a louder and stronger one from the north.

* * *

Hinata walked back into Sasuke's room with a mug of water. It was kind of small, but it was the only liquid holder she could find quickly. Although his coughing had stopped, she felt he could still use something to sooth his throat.

But nature had thought otherwise.

Just as she kneeled onto his bed, a roll of thunder sounded, causing her to squeak and flinch so badly that she tossed the water out of the cup and onto the hardwood floor. She didn't even react to that though.

Spill be damned, she hugged herself to try to get away from her fear that had just came back full force. It was the moving of the blanket that she was sitting on that made her slowly open her eyes.

Sasuke was trying to pull the blanket out from under her, so naturally she stood up and allowed him to gather it up. She couldn't, for the life of her, figure out why he was now patting the spot that was now open to her.

"Don't be scared." Sasuke's voice was like a croak and he even turned his whole body to the opposite side so he was facing her. "Lie with me."

_She seemed to be less afraid of the storm when she was concentrating on me and my health, so maybe... _Sasuke thought sluggishly, hoping beyond hope that she would abide by his request.

Another loud bash of thunder caused Hinata to squeak and dive for the spot with her eyes shut tight. A second later she felt a very warm blanket fall on top of her when Sasuke tossed it with the arm that he didn't have under his head.

When she opened her eyes again, everything was dark and she could hear her breathing as well as his. Little Hinata then realized that they were very close; she could actually feel the back of his hand on her knuckles.

"Don't be afraid. I'll protect you."

Again the thunder crashed, only louder this time. On impulse to grab onto _something_, Hinata grabbed his hands, quickly intertwining her fingers in his.

She said absolutely nothing at all, flinching when a smaller thunderclap sounded.

"I'll be here."

"I… I know."

An odd reversal of situations. The caretaker, Hinata, verbally slapped the patient, Sasuke into his senses so he felt his illness only to end up folding and becoming sheltered by him when her courage left her, _all in the same hour_. Quite the feat. Who was taking care of whom again?

After the storm passed it was soon replaced with exhaustion and eventually sleep for our cute heiress. Hinata's even and quiet breathing worked as a lullaby for our sick orphan, who fell asleep about an hour after she did. During that hour, he just thought. Not about Itachi and his family, but about her, the girl who had just recently became his whole world. He had come to terms with that. Sasuke was outstandingly grateful for her presence curled up with him even in the completely friendly way they were in.

But it went deeper than that. Sasuke could honestly say that there was a chance that perhaps he loved her. Maybe she was the one to bring complete and unadulterated love back into his life. Sure he loved Naruto and Sakura like family, but it was nothing like this.

Before he finally fell off to dreamland for the first time in three days, he decided something. _I think I should tell her how I feel._

By the time they were both asleep, it was 2 in the afternoon.

* * *

**Kinda all over the place. And yes, short, I know. **

**BUT! I realized that this one wasn't quite over yet, and if I would have continued it would have been like, 20 pages and there was no way I could have done that, ESPECIALLY with Breaking Dawn coming out and T-shirts needing to be made. There, now you know. The next installment is coming up soonish! Yay!  
**

**Tee hee. I just realized that that was vaguely reminiscent of chapter something when they fell asleep while playing SSBM. I didn't even plan that. Maybe my pot of ideas is drying up.**

**Wait never mind, its totally not. I just find it hard to put these ideas into a word document.**

**The song was Lullabye (Goodnight my Angel) by Billy Joel, btw. Hinata sang it up an octave, obviously.**

**Scene's from Next Episode?!**

_**She actually let out a little "Aww…" when he stuck out his tongue and wiggled it around to direct the straw where he wanted before inching a little closer to finally claim it with his lips.** _


	16. No, Not Now!

**Yes, I did change my summary, but just because I suddenly felt that the one I had didn't match with the comedic aesthetic that I had built this off of. **

**So here we go again! So this one is… semi-climactic. It's one of those spots in every story where it's a peak, but not THE peak. **

**Yeah, now you're all anticipating something good, ne?**

**Well, I don't know about that but here I go. I just noticed that this is almost leading up to leading up to the end. Eek. I'm not sure how many more chapters, and I don't want to say unless I totally do something different. Also, I got a new idea from this one for maybe a new fic.**

**No more information now, I have to go map it out, anime-style!**

**You see, for every story I think about writing, I make detailed and complicated maps featuring chibi drawings of my characters and arrows and lines and dots leading to different people with different explanations. And that's JUST to start one. I really don't need to do that, I just like to because it's fun I suppose.**

**Enough rambling, lets get this show on the road, with a lovely disclaimer to Kishimoto as well.**

* * *

Hinata awoke to the feeling of Sasuke's breath blowing on her forehead rhythmically, normally… _healthily_. An implication as good as any that he was sleeping for the first time in a while.

The storm had blown itself out over the course of the night. He had been muttering heartening and calming things to her the whole time she… snuggled with him. Putting that confusing circumstance into a box in her head that she promptly locked for future scrutiny, Hinata instead tried to focus on something that was slightly less embarrassing.

Like perhaps the interesting thing that her… _their_ hands were doing. By that I, of course, am referring to the linking of their fingers, their handholding.

They were in the same positions that they had fallen asleep in, with both of them curled and facing each other, hence his breath on her forehead.

_Why do I love this so much? It feels really perfect, as if nothing else could ever fit like this, with _him_…_

Who was he? This cute little hunk of love was most certainly not Naruto, a fact that Hinata failed to care so much about. Ever since she became mature enough to attract the attention of men, she had always shrugged them off, biased in comparing them to that stupid, blonde love of hers.

_He doesn't have that infectious smile… He isn't optimistic… He has no drive… _Things of that sort had always popped up in her mind upon being appraised by the male eye. Hell, even back a few weeks ago, at her first time working lifeguard, she condemned that creep Simon of having abs of nowhere near the same caliber of Naruto's.

So why on earth did Uchiha Sasuke change all that? She hadn't once, this whole summer, compared him to her crush… former crush? If anything, she had compared Naruto to Sasuke on a few occasions, one being paintball skills.

Hinata didn't understand any of her bizarre feelings. One thing she did know was that he seemed to be the second person in the history of ever that had caught her loving eye like this. But did she like him?

'Naruto: former crush?' equaled 'Do I like Sasuke?' in Hinata's confuse-o-meter. Aggravatingly and terrifyingly enough, they both were weighted the same on her list of questions to solve.

She slowly pried her fingers out of his, her heart falling slightly when she felt his warmth leave her from the lack of contact. _Oh my… I've got to get a drink…_

The sky was dark as night peeked through the large window. She heard the rain without seeing it. At least the storm was gone. She vaguely realized how well she was getting to know his apartment when she opened the correct cupboard for a cup of water. It unnerved her slightly, though at the same time emboldening her with an odd, un-Hinataish smugness.

Her random train of thought drifted to her phone, which she probably should check. As she picked it up from where it was on the arm of the couch, she stared blankly at her notifications. One call from Hanabi, one from Kiba, one from Sakura, with only the last one leaving a voicemail.

For the first time since looking at her phone, she checked the time and gasped when it read 1:48 am. It was that early in the morning? She felt like she had slept forever. _Well, I was out for twelve hours I guess…_

Instead of listening to whatever Sakura had to say, she pocketed her phone in the pouch on the stomach of the hoodie. After leaving her hand inside of the bunny-esque softness of the inside for a few moments, she heard him coughing.

Ok, one, he was awake. Two, she needed to get him water. The glass she had gotten out for herself was sitting abandoned on the counter, for Hinata had ADDed herself into checking her phone instead of getting water.

As she filled it under the tap, a brightly colored box caught her eye from somewhere in the cupboard that was still swung open. Curiosity got the better of her when she set the full glass to the side and reached in for the mystery box.

The mystery box ended up being a transparent box of differently colored bendy straws. Yes, _bendy straws_.

Uchiha Sasuke had bendy straws.

* * *

When she tiptoed back into his room, she carried with her a glass of water, complete with a pink straw for easy drinkage and for her to see the very _manly_ Sasuke drink from a pink straw. He had not changed his position at all, but she saw his eyes completely open, looking at her.

His nose and mouth were hidden in the blanket, but for some crazy reason she though he was frowning. The intensity in his orbs was enough to clue her in, as was the tightness of his brow. Hinata smiled at him and held up her glass when she was right next to the bed, even though his coughing had more-or-less subsided.

'Here… drink this slowly." She whispered, hopping on the bed to sit by his side. He stared at her out of his cove and slowly inched his head out of it.

If she didn't know any better, she'd say that he was totally faking.

The hardness of his eyes was gone, she realized with relief. It was as if he had been pondering something but now had it all sorted out. That was good for him, whatever it was. Little did she know it was about to be good for her as well, but shush, you didn't hear it from me… (A/N: Ahahahahah, I feel like Gossip Girl. 'Xoxo… _Gossip Girl_…')

Hinata placed the glass of water on the bedspread and began to push it towards him. Her other hand angled the straw so he could get it without raising his head. Sasuke's coughing was gone for the most part, but he was still wheezing.

She actually let out a little "Aww…" when he stuck out his tongue and wiggled it around to direct the straw where he wanted before inching a little closer to finally claim it with his lips.

Dropping the straw out of his mouth as she said that, he tried his best to glare. (A/N: Something about men and their displeasure at feeling cute or weak… I personally don't understand it…)

"You're just cute when you're helpless…" She giggled, starting to feel lightheaded again.

_What is happening to me? I never ever call people cute, and here I am, saying it to a guy! It's like I forget myself when I'm with him._

_**And that's a bad thing?**_ Inner Hinata, who had been laying dormant ever since getting drunk for the first time, spoke up, her tone an appraising one.

Sasuke's pride took a serious blow from that. He just had to prove her wrong. "Helpless, you say?"

_I don't have to tell her do I? Can't I show her? I'm more of a physical being anyway. _

Cutely, she failed to notice the deviousness that claimed his face as he was saying that so she just laughed lightly again. "Yes…"

In a flicker of movement that she neither saw nor anticipated, Sasuke did something that involved not spilling the water and him completely getting on top of and straddling a very bewildered Hinata. It seemed like he held on to the glass with one hand and with the other reached for her wrist and pulled her towards him. When her legs were up (which took a millisecond in the grand scheme of things) Sasuke rolled, both successfully protecting her from contact with the bed and positioning him on top of her.

Of course, his hand remained on her wrist while the other raised the cup to his lips and drank without bothering with the straw when he finished his move. Hinata was completely baffled that he had done that in about one second.

He drank his victory water smugly, thank you very much. "Who's helpless again?"

_It's really hot all of the sudden. _Sasuke noticed, smirking as he found out another perfect variable for his plan of attack. He handed his half full glass to her free hand while he took off the hoodie that was almost deathly hot.

Hinata loved that he was taking it off (A/N: Take it _off_, woooo!) because it meant that he was either completely cured of his fever or was at least getting there. But then she realized, _Oh, he is now without a shirt… Gah!_

Her blush sidled onto her cheeks but she did not betray the nervousness onto her expression. She was not a stupid person; she was actually really smart. She understood exactly how compromising her position was. Funnily enough, she wanted to see exactly where he was going with this.

An overwhelming part of her wanted him to keep… uh… well... to keep continuing this odd sort of lap dance.

Sasuke, stupid_ stupid_ Sasuke, just assumed that she was blushing solely because he was shirtless. In a sudden bout of thirst, he lightly snatched the glass from her hand and brought it to his lips.

The glass completely drained, Sasuke lightly placed it on his bedside table, having to lean slightly on Hinata to do so. She bit her lip when he was no longer looking at her face, suddenly anxious. It was anxious in a good way though, if it was possible for that to happen.

It took her a few moments to gather a proper response to his question.

"Y-you are." She giggled, reaching out with her free hand and attempting to tickle him in his side.

She tried for a few moments in increasing desperation before realizing that her brilliant plan had completely gone up in flames. He remained in exactly the same position as before with the only change being in his now-amused face.

"Sorry, but I'm not ticklish there…" Sasuke chuckled. "Care to try to find out where?"

The sexual implication to that was as obvious as if he had shouted, "Let's have sex!" And yet, he felt as if it didn't quite register in Hinata's pure mind. Would he have to spell it out for her?

Honestly, no. But he didn't know that. It was as if he was blind when he was around her.

Maybe he would have to just say it after all. He hoped that it wouldn't come to that, but… what else could he do?

Oh wait! He could easily chicken out of confessing his feelings for her! What on earth was he thinking? That was the easiest path to take, of course. There we go, he _shouldn't_ tell her, it would be too bothersome if she rejected him.

And yet… he was straddling her, pinning her, practically shoving his godlike chest into her face. He couldn't ask for a better set up.

She was lying there, as innocent looking as a doe, apparently thinking about something that required her face to screw up into a deathly cute expression. It was at about that time when he actually got a grip on the situation that Sasuke himself initiated. He was shirtless, sexually pinning her down onto his _bed._

Cue blush… _now_!

Hinata was suddenly met with an explosion of realization. It was like she had suddenly become fluent in a language she didn't know. His blush just spelled it all out. He _liked_ her!

You see Hinata was in a sticky position with her newfound knowledge. She admitted to herself that she cared so much for Sasuke that she may just have gone to the ends of the earth to help him. Naruto had dropped in her book and Sasuke had risen (drastically fast).

Sadly, all possibility for critical thinking had just imploded on itself what with the current physical situation. To be perfectly honest she didn't know exactly what she felt about the Uchiha that had so rudely (and sexily) intruded into her personal bubble.

Also, to add a _wonderful_ layer of confusion to the whole thing, Hinata had never been in a sexual position like this in her life before. Never. This was all new.

"_Care to find out where?_" She thought about what he said. Uchiha Sasuke liked her. She knew from the blush and, upon further reminiscing from some other things he had ever said or did. After that she thought about _other_ things, things that she had felt when he had done those things. _Oh my, I like him. I like him! No!_

Sasuke was fighting with his blush, as if he could actually stop his own blood from rushing to his cheeks.

_No… this can't be happening. I can't be falling for him. _Hinata thought quickly, almost hysterically. The things he had said and did were bouncing and replaying over and over in her head as her dawning realization rose into a fully-fledged fact.

He seemed to be fighting an internal battle, the chance at which Hinata took to try to hastily figure out what was going on. _He likes me… I like him… FUCK!_

Uh oh. Apocalypse has officially come. Fire raining from the sky, zombies right outside the door, spontaneous earthquakes, cats and dogs living together… mass hysteria! Hyuga Hinata swore.

_I can't be falling for someone again. I just fucking got over Naruto just in time for college! No, nonono, I can't fall for Sasuke… he's just going to leave in like, a month! It'll take me more time to get over him than that! He's not stupid; he knows that everything will change when everybody goes off to fucking college. This can't be happening… How can he do this to me? To ANYONE? _

This'll be a long apocalypse. Hinata didn't particularly seem to be in the mood to stop her dirty mouth anytime soon.

The longer Sasuke stayed on her, the more she started to panic. _This is different from Naruto because in this case my love isn't unrequited! I need to do __**something**__ now before… FUCK!!_

Sasuke finally noticed her inner anguish, meaning that by now it had shown up on her face. Her heavily blushing face.

_She knows what I'm trying to say. Hinata knows what I feel now._ It wasn't a question in his mind; it was verifiable fact. "Hinata… what--?"

As he said that, she found his chest with her free hand and pushed with all her might, successfully incapacitating him from the shock of her sudden move. His hand left her wrist as he struggled instinctually to keep his center of gravity.

When he was off, Hinata scurried out of the bed with him still on it. She reached inside her pocket to find her phone gone and after scanning the area found it badly hidden within the folds of the sheets near Sasuke's knee.

The knee-owner in question just stared at her with his mouth slightly open.

"Um… y-you're obviously h-healthy now so… so I need to be getting uh, back…" Hinata's blush reached down to her neck, covering most of the skin he could see on the upper-half of her body. She snatched her phone precisely from the sheets and pocketed it, walking quickly around the bed to try to get past it… past _him_. She was deliberately avoiding his eye.

Her anxiety was bordering on hysterics. She needed to get out _now_ before something happened that she would regret when it came time for them to part for college and Hinata's brutal home schooling.

She was out of the door in a flurry of movement before Sasuke came back to himself. "Huh?"

With an epic leap he jumped off his bed and was out of the door within a second, finding Hinata still freaking out, wringing her hands as she looked for the backpack she had brought. She dove for it when she saw a strap peaking out from behind the couch, gasping as she did.

"Hinata… what?" Sasuke asked blandly, the confusion in his question was almost deadly.

"T-there's f-food in the o-oven from that Chinese place we went t-to after paintball…" She muttered quickly, trying to stop the tears that were forming at the worst possible time: her escape. The backpack was slung over one shoulder in a blur as she straightened up and half-ran past him to get to the door. It was when she reached the doorknob when she met his first resistance, a hand on her shaking shoulder.

"Stop." It was an order.

He turned her around slowly, and it was when she was facing him that she realize how much taller he was than her. It was intimidating.

His face, however, was not. As soon as he saw her tears, his expression seemed to just die and in its place spawned sheer worry. One look into his eyes seemed to give Hinata's wavering feelings new heart. Sadly, her love for him came out as a tremendous sob.

"I… I have to go!" Her tone would have been called shrieking, had it not been so low decibel.

Sasuke was at a loss. What had happened to her in those brief moments where he contemplated kissing her? She was completely submissive, almost waiting for half of it and then in the next moment she was flinging him off! But far from being offended, Sasuke just wanted to find out what happened to put her into hysterics like this.

Her breathing was short and quick, as if she had been running. The tears ran over her red cheeks in two streams that led to under her chin. She was shaking, she was crying, she was talking about odd things too…

Sasuke wanted—no, _needed_ to know. "No, you don't have to go." His voice was laced with so much odd emotion that should have gotten to her. 'Should have' being the operative words.

"Yes I do! Sasuke… y-you don't understand!!" She shook her head over and over again slowly, as if trying to get her own thoughts out of her mind. Thoughts of her and Sasuke having a lovely relationship that outlasted even time itself that she _couldn't possibly_ think right now.

"There's nothing I don't understand."

His voice sounded so understanding that it brought on a fresh wave of tears. Well, it did once you got past the fake pride.

"I… can't. I'm so s-sorry Sasuke."

"What can't you do?"

Whatever force seemed to be holding her up at this point seemed to just break. Was she overreacting? Maybe. It was quite possible, considering that this was completely unprecedented in Hinata-land.

As was her sudden lashing out. "D-don't stand there acting like there is some way this can work!"

That caught him off-guard. Was she talking about what he thought she was? Did she have feelings for him like he did for her? She stared into his eyes for one more second before violently turning around and opening his door without even pausing to grab her shoes.

"Goodbye, Sasuke." With that small but obviously devastating farewell she fled barefoot out into the hall, stifling her sobs as she reached the elevator that had just dinged, sounding it's presence at their level.

* * *

**POV CHANGE! Sakura and Kiba time!**

Sakura's phone rang loudly, causing her to wake with a start. Normally she turned it to silent at night so as not to be awakened by anybody messing with her beauty sleep, but she must have forgotten tonight.

That being said, whoever was unlucky enough to be on the other end of the call was going to get an earful.

It was completely dark in her room, so she knocked over her alarm clock in reaching for the phone. Once it was safely in her grasp, she just brought it to her ear without looking at who it was.

"Who the fuck is it?"

"_Uh, Kiba. Hellooooo, caller ID?"_

She could not take this right now; he was always awake into the early hours of the morning and was so damn chipper at said time. Yes, they had had their midnight phone conversations that she would always start when she couldn't sleep. Even though they bit into whatever thing he was doing so early, she knew he loved it.

What she didn't know was that Kiba stayed up sometimes solely for those conversations.

"I should have known…" She groaned, rolling over in bed to take a look off the bed at her downed clock. It read 1:56 am.

Kiba laughed, but it was short, almost fake._ "Yeah, well it's an emergency."_

Even that slightly foreboding news didn't shake her from her drowsiness. She also failed to wonder why Kiba would call her if Hinata were with him, as the girl said she would be. "Uh huh. Shoot."

"_Did you know that Hinata is at Sasuke's house? That she left my house after we did and hasn't been home ever since?"_

"What?!" Sakura cried, not caring about the early hour. She sat up in bed, her covers flung off her. That was exactly the gossip that she liked to hear, but something was off. _Hinata_ spent the night? "Wait, she actually got in?"

"_Oh, by the way we totally forgot to call her like we said we would. But yeah, that's what it seems like. I know about Operation: Doghouse considering I'm the dog, so was that what she declared?"_

"Yeah, she did. Her dad thinks she's sleeping over here. You sure she's not with you?"

Even to the ends of the earth she could count on his odd humor. _"Wait a second while I look for her. Nope, not behind the fridge…"_

"Right, I got it."

"_So what're we going to do?"_

"Come again?"

Kiba sighed on his end of the phone. _"You were the one who wanted to talk to him! If Hinata's there, at least she'll let us in, don't you think? You know her, she's always up late like this doing __**something**__, I'm sure this is no different just because her location is."_

"Us?" Sakura inquired lightly, beginning to tease him like she always did. Any outside spectator would declare her head-over-heels if they ever saw her talk like this to anyone. This seemed more real than Sasuke ever had.

Sakura was better at reading herself than Hinata was, so she actually _knew_ when she was falling for someone, and not after he physically confessed his feelings.

"_Well, yeah."_

Sakura was also a little braver up front. "What is 'Us', anyway?"

At his pause, she wondered if he might have been blushing. She was smiling when he stuttered his next sentence.

"_Putting grammar aside, 'Us' is about to go see what's up."_ Good save, doggie, good save.

"After that, do you want to go out for breakfast? Wait, let's please plan this later…"

"_I'll take you up on that, later though. Stay focused Sa-ku-ra…"_

Ah, the mocking never ends.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the Jeep was parked right outside in the handicapped spot (just because nobody was around to ticket him for it) and Sakura and Kiba were in the elevator that just started rising to the top level.

"So, what's the plan?" Kiba asked coolly from where he was, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

This angered Sakura to the point of her punching him in the arm. "This was your idea!"

"Yeah, but…" Kiba trailed off, rubbing his bruised arm. So beautiful, the punches of love…

"How about we knock and if nobody comes within a minute, we call her? If we fail then, you're taking me out to a _real-ly_ early breakfast." Sakura brainstormed out loud, biting her lip when she was finished.

"Sounds goo—hey!"

"You're saying you don't want to take me out?"

Well, _someone_ wore the pants in this budding relationship, that's for damn sure.

"No I'm not, I just forgot to bring money…"

They both heard the ding of the elevator as it reached the highest floor, their destination.

"Well, I'll cover your ass this time I suppose, but—Hinata!" Sakura was startled for when the metal doors slid open she was greeted with their friend.

Their blubbering, tear-stricken friend.

Their plan didn't even make it to the runway. If anything it exploded in the hangar.

"What is going _on_?" Kiba asked, jumping out of the box to her side immediately. Sakura still had her foot in the doorway when she touched her shoulder lightly.

Hinata tried to get away, but Kiba held her shoulders securely with anxious comments of, "Hina! Hinata what happened?"

Turning her head towards the only answer to this mystery, Sakura took one long glance down the hall to where Sasuke was standing, halfway out of door, looking as bewildered as she had ever seen him.

They needed to figure out what was going on. Detective Team: Harunuzkua is on the job and ready for action.

* * *

**Wow, I just figured out that, of all the things I have found that I am at least **_**vaguely**_** competent at writing, romantic realization is not one of them. I do hope I made it seem like Hinata and Sasuke would get together even though they didn't, because that was my motive in writing it like I did. **

**Sorry if it sucks, in rereading it, it seemed like the only part that I wrote was the beginning and the Sakura/Kiba part… the middle, I just died. I think that was the point where I was stricken with a short writers block for a bit. **

**Eek.**

**Scenes From the Next Episode:**

_**Sakura decided then and there that both his and Hinata's lives were just big fucking messes. Seems that had been one of the things that had drawn them together, and then Hinata had to just ruin it by freaking out. This was all just a big fucking mess! **_


	17. Obstructionistic Ordeals

**Oops.  
It's been a while.**

**Officially I think I'm putting KNTM on hiatus until I actually gather my wits and pump that shit out. It'd probably be one big one for the finale and then an epilogue.**

**I'm sitting on another idea that basically has a good handful of my favorite characters. Actually, I'm sitting on a lot of stuff right now, but each of them have like one or two chapters and I feel that if I update, I won't finish. Hah.**

**Oh yeah, I had a review about using a tad too much swearing and I'm sorry for that. I changed the rating on this because I didn't think many people minded. Also keep in mind that I tend to swear more when I'm in the point of view of a particular person who I thought would swear. I'm sorry again if my colorful language offended anyone, but I'm not going to tone it down except by a little. **

* * *

Sakura looked at Kiba once and they both nodded, understanding the unspoken plan. In a flurry of pink hair she tore off after Sasuke while he stayed with Hinata.

You see, Sakura was known as a rather… eh… _violent_ person. So when she reached Sasuke, who was staring at the scene with Kiba and Hinata in minor horror, she punched him straight to the jaw. The hit made him fall back into his apartment, which Sakura promptly stepped into before shutting the door.

The last thing that Kiba heard before the elevator door closed with him and Hinata inside was Sakura shouting, "_What the __**fuck**__ did you do to her?"_

They both had their jobs to complete. Agents are… go! (A/N: Lol Elite Beat Agents line there...)

* * *

"Sasuke, I don't even care that you were an ass to us for the last few days," She growled, glaring down at Sasuke who was sprawled on the floor, holding his jaw. "But if you did something asshole-y to make her cry, as the best girl friend I will fucking murder you, do you understand? Now what did you do?!"

Sasuke was not glaring at her as she had expected him to. He was looking pained and depressed. "I don't know what I did…" His gaze dropped to the floor, looking at Hinata's abandoned shoes.

His low and quiet voice made Sakura's drop as well, to a pitying level. "Sasuke, what happened?

"I was… we… I think she…"

Dropping to his side, she made a face that urged him to continue. _What's wrong with him? He never talks so spaced out like this…_

"Sakura?" He looked up at her, his obsidian eyes smoldering with a terrible sadness. He seemed to be shocked to his core. This was weird; this was not like him at all. Did he just turn into Naruto or something? "I'm in love with Hinata, but I think she just rejected me."

_Ne? Someone rejected Sasuke? Hinata? Sasuke loves Hinata? _The truth in his eyes and in his voice caught Sakura's breath in her throat. _No way…_

And so, sitting on the floor of his apartment, near where his and Hinata's shoes lay unorganized by the wall, Sasuke recounted much of what happened in a monotonous voice. He even told her about his brother and everything about his family massacre.

Sakura decided then and there that both his and Hinata's lives were just big fucking messes. Seems that had been one of the things that had drawn them together, and then she had to just ruin it by freaking out. This was **all** just a big fucking mess!

* * *

The cheesy elevator music wasn't making things any better. Kiba stood holding Hinata to his chest, still clutching tight even though she had stopped struggling when they passed the twelfth floor.

"Hina… can you tell me what happened?" He asked lightly, putting his hand in her hair as he held her tighter to him.

"No," Her voice was muffled and stubborn.

"I'm not kidding when I say I will hold onto you into your senile years until you tell me."

Hinata's ragged breathing stopped suddenly and she looked up from his chest. Apparently she had stopped crying up at the twelfth floor as well.

He pouted at her, trying to coax her into telling him something. Hinata smiled weakly at his face before the smile seemed to melt off her face. No! Not more shitty realization!

Kiba was leaving via airplane to go to his college in little less than a month. He was going to leave forever as well.

A fresh wave of tears began to fall. "N-no… not you too… C-can't you just leave me alone?"

_Huh? Not me too? _"Hina, what are you talk—"

It was quick, just as she it had been with Sasuke. She pushed against his chest with all her might and backed up against the wall of the elevator. "Why do you have to make this hard on me too? Y-you and Sasuke-kun both just don't understand!"

He was lost. Slowly the clockwork in his brain started to move again, gaining speed until it was once more able to process coherent thought. And once he got it back, instead of quiet, useless questions like Sasuke had sputtered out, he took the sharper approach.

"Well, that makes a lot of sense considering that none of us know what the hell you're talking about!"

Hinata jumped as he said this and she took a deep and steadying breath. _Why'd he have to yell at me? _She thought bitterly.

"Please just calm down and tell me why you're acting so weird!" Kiba said, quieter than his outburst of before.

"Fine!" Hinata burst out, her lower lip quivering. One of the most intimidating things about the gentle Hinata was that she would look someone in the eye when she talked to someone, a feat that unnerved even the steadiest people. He had experienced it before, but was still mildly frightened by it.

This was her game-mode.

"Fine! None of you get it! I-I'm the only o-one who has to suffer through all of this!" To her shock and odd amusement, Kiba reached over and punched the 'Emergency Stop' button. The elevator jolted to a halt, making them lose their balance for a moment.

"Hinata, what do you mean?" Kiba asked sharply, throwing his arms up in the air in his exasperation. One noteworthy fact about Kiba was that he was rather impatient.

"You're all m-merrily skipping off to college while I have to be stuck here reminiscing over everything we've been through together! You're trying to uphold the friendship we had when you **know **that it'll never be the same! C-can't you see how much harder that makes it for me?"

She was never a selfish person, so this was unprecedented. For once she started caring about herself, and the outcome was complete depression. Oh joy…

"I…" Kiba choked out, starting to piece it together. Hinata had been planning eventual bridge burning for all of them to make being abandoned a little easier. She was a sentimental being, so being left behind was probably harder on her than it would be for anyone else. Also, with her being shy and characteristically not opening up to someone within a year of comradeship, this would all really blow.

"And to make matters even fucking worse," She continued, and Kiba totally missed her use of a swear word. "I am stuck here with my father, being f-forced to learn something I care nothing about!"

Kiba understood it all now. That was the true killer blow. She would have been better off if she had been going to college and having an exciting adventure of her own, but she _wasn't_. She was stuck in a terrible routine made worse by her solitude and the fact everybody was having fun without her.

She wanted everybody to just stay away.

"Now I find out that I have feelings for Sasuke and he likes me so that just messes everything up!"

_She must be rambling at this point. I thought I heard that Sasuke and her like each other… _He mused, trying to just push aside that fact for a later time. That would be… weird if that were true. Player Sasuke and chaste Hinata? Nah…

Now a question presented itself. What would he do now? He couldn't go embrace her because she would just flip out again and that'd be worse in the long run. But it was against his touchy-feely nature _not_ to go to her.

"Hinata, what do you want me to say?" Kiba muttered weakly, screwing up his face to mimic his inner turmoil.

"Nothing. P-please just leave me alone." She cried softly, shaking her head.

"I know things will never be the same. I know that." He started and she was suddenly aware that a monologue was about to take place. "The only reason that Sakura and I would maybe ever work out is because our colleges are within forty-five minutes of each other. I know that. I'm probably not going to talk to Shino or Shikamaru or anybody for a while, maybe never again. That's part of what makes it so exciting for me I think."

Hinata just stared at him, drinking in his words.

"Yeah, you're alone here doing something you hate. I get that too. But since when has the ever-optimistic Hinata been such a downer like this? You are the one of the most amazing people I know, and I know that you are the only one who is strong and adaptable enough to deal with this. If Sasuke really does like you, then it's obvious that he wants to spend as much time as he could with you. Don't you get it? We're not trying to punish you or make this harder! We're trying to soak up the most of our friendships before they have to undergo a bad change."

Kiba had never ranted this long or had gone this deep before. Maybe he had been sitting on the same thought as well.

"We're… _reinforcing_ these friendships as strong as we can so we never forget. Did you honestly think that we would forget about you… about anyone that we love? True, your situation is fucked up and unfair. True, you have it worse than a lot of us. But if anyone, you can make the most of it!"

Tears were flowing again over her face. Her knees buckled under her and she fell, probably scraping them up on the metal floor. Kiba dropped in front of her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"So why are you running? You're not weak." His voice was softer now, but still had that odd power she had come to expect from Sakura and Sasuke as well by now. "If you care about someone, _tell them_. If you want something, work for it! We don't have a lot of time left, but just because of the deadline we have to make it rock."

From his crouched position, Kiba reached and pressed the button that made the elevator resume it's travel. Instead of jerking like it did when it had stopped, it went smoothly. The terrible elevator music was now the only sound as Hinata tried to _think_.

As they reached the ground floor, Hinata straightened up right as the ding sounded. "I... I never want to see you unhappy. I thought you'd w-want the same for me." (A/N: Gahahhahaha, song quote)

She stepped out as the door opened, a fierce determination emanating from her body. She tried to go 2-for-2 with the judgmental farewells. "Goodbye Kiba."

She had almost made it out but sadly, old habits die-hard. "I'll c-call you later!"

The doors closed on Kiba because he was unwilling to follow her. When they were shut and Hinata was in the clear, she slapped her hand to her head dramatically. _'I'll call you later'?_ _Why on earth did I say that? _

After recovering from her bout of _stupid_, she rearranged her backpack and walked squarely to the revolving glass doors. Sadly, since karma tends to pray on those who have had bad days, Hinata's backpack got stuck in the revolving doors.

_You've got to be kidding me._

She tried to move backwards to go through the doors, but since they were designed otherwise she found herself completely without a way to go.

The sheer unfairness of the whole action just made Hinata start crying again. 'Growing up', though never characteristically kind, decided to target her in particular over the last week. She failed to move for a whole minute, with her bag still unmercifully caught in the doors.

When she did, all she did was drop the bag and continue walking through the doors. She went back into them in nearly the same step, snatching the arm of the bag angrily.

_I hate this._

* * *

"Okay… wow." Sakura muttered. She was lying on her back on Sasuke's couch, the top of her head brushing against his thigh as he sat cross-legged on the rest of the space. "I really don't understand why she would freak out like that."

"Hn," Sasuke muttered, putting up the hood of his recently re-donned track hoodie just on impulse. He knew perfectly well that she still had his soccer sweater, which was his favorite one of the grand load that he had.

But it was no problem because he would rather she had it.

"I'd say she was feeling wrong because of her thing for Naruto-baka, but she… what did she say again?" Sakura asked, playing with the tips of her hair subconsciously.

It seemed like this was the thousandth time that Sasuke had repeated it. "'_Don't stand there acting like there is some way this can work.'_"

"She has feelings for you. She must like you because she phrased it like that!" Sakura muttered exasperatedly. "I mean, she could have said something like 'don't waste your time on me,' or 'I don't think it will work out," but she totally didn't! It's like she's admitting that nothing can ever work between the two of you, despite how she obviously wants it."

"At the same time," He muttered before letting out a huge, longing sigh. It was something that she had never heard him do. "She could have just been saying what came into her head. It wasn't as if she was exactly levelheaded at the time."

"Psh, since when has Hinata ever said something that monumental that she didn't mean?" She asked rhetorically. It was like they were analysts taking apart a political debate.

_Uh, I don't know, maybe when she said she cared about me? _Sasuke asked himself sarcastically, his shoulders drooping _almost_ comically. In the situation, nothing was really funny looking. _If she cared, why did she reject me like that?_

Sakura took his silence for assent and plowed on with her breakdown. "And she _ran_. What is she trying to escape from?"

"_Us._"

Sasuke and Sakura both looked up at the same time to see Kiba in the doorway. They privately wondered how on earth he had entered without them noticing, but it didn't really matter what with the colossal information they just received.

He talked as he walked towards the kitchen and sat down at the counter. Since the kitchen was completely visible from the living room, they still saw and heard him loud and clear. "She's trying to distance herself from all of us before we all leave her here alone to stew here in her shitty lessons."

It all made sense now, but there was something off. "Hinata is never irrational like that." Sasuke muttered, staring straight at Kiba who scoffed.

"Since when do you know her at all?"

Sakura flinched as he said this. If what Sasuke had said to her was true, he had harbored a crush on her since the beginning of senior year and had learned a lot just from observing from a distance.

"I know her obviously better than you think I do."

Both of their tones were quiet and almost joking, but there was an underlying layer of anger etched in each word.

You see Kiba was still trying to get over the fact that the notorious player, Uchiha Sasuke had strong feelings for his best friend. "Fine, what's her favorite color?"

Sasuke answered without missing a beat. "Yellow. Light yellow or deep gold depending on the situation or her mood."

Snap.

"Favorite food?" Kiba was not willing to back down.

"Tie between apples, Honeycrisp to be precise, and jalapeño peppers."

Double snap.

The only member of their skulls session without a Y chromosome was getting annoyed. So annoyed that she actually sat up to deliver her statement. "Why does it even matter?"

Sasuke and Kiba both looked at Sakura at the same time, and then both looked away stubbornly in synchronization as well. For all their differences, they were rather alike.

"I mean, seriously, you guys are acting like ki—wait!" Sakura turned on Kiba, her eyes narrowed. "Wait, you let her go?"

Now Sasuke realized it as well. Kiba had returned with news, but without Hinata. Putting the pieces together meant that whatever Kiba said to her had been in vain and she was still distraught.

His eye twitching, Kiba looked away. "Yeah, I suppose I did. You didn't see her though…"

Sasuke and Sakura both shot him venomous glares.

"I basically delivered the longest and deepest speech that I have ever done, and she still wanted nothing to do with me." Kiba was depressed now, and lowered the side of his head onto Sasuke's granite counter.

The trio was silent for a few moments before Kiba muttered something quietly that they, on the couch, could barely hear. "This is all your fault."

Considering it absolutely couldn't be Sakura's, Sasuke turned his head angrily to face him. "Mine?"

I don't know if you've ever heard Sasuke snarl, but it is actually quite terrifying. Sakura flinched, but Kiba kept his composure.

"Yes, yours. You're just one more thing she feels that she has to hold on to!"

"Kiba," Sakura muttered, jumping in yet again. "Shut up. Sasuke's… _thing_ was just the straw that broke the camels back."

Kiba laughed cruelly. "That was one huge piece of straw then."

* * *

All right, the place is just outside of the apartment building. The time is around 2:30 in the morning. The weather is relentless rain. The situation is… shitty. Hinata didn't particularly want to venture out into the heavy and ultimately wet rain for one reason besides her terrible mood.

She didn't want to get Sasuke's hoodie wet.

You see the inside felt like someone had skinned bunnies to line the jacket. That's how soft it was. If the bunnies got wet, they would loose their godlike softness.

Bunnies don't like to go swimming, in case you didn't know that. Have you ever seen a bunny swim? No, I thought not.

Something about Hyuga Hinata was that she could just change her state of mind to let things just bounce off her. It was like a shield she would put up that didn't allow in bad feelings of anger or fear or something like that. And to put up said shield, she needed to think about something else, in this case the well being of the hoodie.

_I can't stay here…_ She kept reminding herself. Each and every time she did, she would try to gather the wits necessary to dive out into the rain, and each and every time she lost her will.

_I need to go home… I've done too much damage here._

* * *

It is now 3:00 in the morning and our heroes (though not the normal heroes) find themselves at one of those crappy and overly publicized restaurants, the ones that are open twenty-four hours a day. (A/N: Like Perkins…)

Hey, Kiba did say he would take her out to breakfast. Oh wait; _Sakura_ had said that he would take her out. Right…

The pair of them, wet and grumpy, sidled into one of the booths, their soaked clothes squeaking on the bright red plastic. Sasuke had said that he needed to get some sleep and think things over, and when Kiba pointed out that he couldn't technically do the two at the same time, he kicked them out.

"So, what do you want to eat?" Kiba asked her, chancing a glance over the top of his laminated menu at her.

"Uh, I don't know… I'm not really hungry anymore." Sakura muttered, scratching at a peeling sticker on the front of the menu.

"Me neither…" He agreed, changing his position so that he was leaning against the back of the booth.

"Nothing like an uncharacteristically negligent girl and her emo boyfriend to kill your appetite, eh?"

Kiba laughed a true laugh. It sounded nice to her, considering all that she had been hearing this morning were tears, muttering and yelling. She smiled up at him and decided that it wasn't worth it to be in a bad mood.

Everybody was facing the same problems that Hinata was. Some, like Kiba, Sakura and Sasuke, tried to soak up the last days of their true springtime of youth. Because of this mindset, Sakura didn't want to ruin this exchange between them, which should have been really fun.

I mean _sure_, their colleges were close to each other. But it was also true that it'd never be like this ever again.

"Hey, let's dine and dash, okay?"

Kiba looked confused for a moment before a huge grin broke out over his face. "Hell yeah. In that case, lets each eat like a family of four, 'kay?"

Though not promising that, Sakura stood up slightly in her seat, trying to catch the eye of the sole waiter. As they were not alone, he was tending to a hard-core biking couple but he seemed to just finish. She waved him over and smiled at him when he asked her for her order.

"Can I have two orders of the buttermilk pancakes, one with chocolate chips baked in and the other with them on top?" She asked sweetly, smiling toothily.

"U-Uh, sure…" The waiter muttered, writing down her bizarre instructions. "And to drink?"

She put her finger to her lip in mock thought. "Well… how about a large orange juice, a large milk and some hot chocolate. And for you, my love?"

Her question was directed at Kiba who barked out a laugh. The waiter was under the impression that she was ordering for him, but _no_.

"Yes, can I have the carnivore special, only can you substitute the sausage for a bowl of fruit, the bacon for some mashed potatoes, the ham for toast and the eggs for sausage?"

Sakura had just brought her glass of water to her mouth to take a drink and choked as he said that.

The poor waiter looked down at the picture of the carnivore special and frowned. It was all meat that he had substituted for fruit, potatoes and toast, and two eggs that he had switched with meat.

"O… kay… what to drink?" He asked, shaking his head in annoyance as he wrote down Kiba's order.

"I'll have what she's having, only instead of the orange juice I want tea, instead of the milk I want coffee and instead of the hot chocolate…" Kiba glanced over at Sakura who was shaking with laughter. "Actually I'll have that. Thank you very much… Jon."

"Yes, Jon, thank you for being so understanding!" Sakura said chirpily, getting over her bout of the giggles as she too peered at his name tag.

Jon left without saying anything, without even a nod. When he went back into the kitchen, one cue Sakura and Kiba exploded with laughter.

"Oh," Sakura muttered in-between her laughs. "I feel bad now. It's so early in the morning, we probably just pissed him off."

Kiba shrugged, still chuckling lightly. "And we're not even paying!"

"Right you are, sir."

There was a comfy silence after that, where oddly both diners were thinking about the same thing. Exact same thing. It was just Kiba who decided to be bluntly audacious and say it.

"Are we dating?"

Sakura didn't know. Kiba didn't know. They didn't really know what the hell was going on, but that was kind of nice.

"Do you want to?" She shot back, tilting her head a tiny bit.

Kiba smirked, which was Sakura's favorite face of his. "Absolutely."

"Well…" she muttered, putting her finger to her bottom lip in mock thought. "Let's do it then."

"No details, just us?"

His smirk intensified as she nodded. That was how he liked it, when things happened without actual labels and work. They just fell together.

If_ their_ relationship was so unbelievably easy, why did Sasuke and Hinata completely fail?

* * *

**Yeah, I get it this one was bad and long. I dug myself into a ditch in the SasuHina relationship and so I escaped with KibaSaku.**

**Don't get me wrong, I will spend a lot of my time (which I don't have much of because of school) into fixing the wreckage of my thoughts regarding them.**

**Scenes from the next episode:**

**Lately she had been so elusive that he thought her some ethereal creature that his heart-heavy mind had created. But no, she was here, killing him with a nicely aimed shank. Wow.**

"Uh, Kiba… I think Sasuke's brain just exploded."  



	18. Problematic Precariousness

**Ok, this one is kinda short, but let's sit and think for a moment. Nine pages are a metric shit ton to write on my spare time, what with my classes and everything else I have to do.**

**I know that it's not like the 10+ I had made a habit out of pumping out near the middle of this epic tale, but nine is a heavy number.**

**So, TECHNICALLY this isn't exactly short.**

**All right, I'm sorry, the chapter begins now!**

* * *

Scenes from last episode:

_The trio was silent for a few moments before Kiba muttered something quietly that they, on the couch, could barely hear. "This is all your fault."_

_Considering it absolutely couldn't be Sakura's, Sasuke turned his head angrily to face him. "Mine?"_

_I don't know if you've ever heard Sasuke snarl, but it is actually quite terrifying. Sakura flinched, but Kiba kept his composure. _

"_Yes, yours. You're just one more thing she feels that she has to hold on to!"_

"_Kiba," Sakura muttered, jumping in yet again. "Shut up. Sasuke's… thing was just the straw that broke the camels back."_

_Kiba laughed cruelly. "That was one huge piece of straw then."

* * *

_Her phone ran at least twice a day. She had thought that they would give up after a few days but nope. Even two weeks after the disastrous elevator incident with Kiba, she was still getting called.

Hinata was being completely immature and recluse, but in her mind she was protecting herself. In her friends' minds she was just being stupid. They thought her stupid, but still loved her.

The calls mainly came from persistent people like Sakura and even a little of Sasuke (though his calls had been dwindling in amount lately). Hinata just wished that they could just understand what she was thinking.

But instead of actually trying to tell them what she was thinking, she just turned off her phone. Yes, a snobby, rude, and uncharacteristic move, but she didn't really care at the present time.

Actually, at the present time she was playing Call of Duty 4 online.

Neji was off somewhere with Tenten and Hanabi was in her room doing her summer homework, so Hinata had the console to herself.

She was doing pretty well, being in the top three in every game. In the period of waiting for the next game to start, having already chosen her choice of starting gun, she quickly scurried off to the kitchen to grab a soda and a bite to eat.

Upon returning to her still warm spot on the couch, the game was loading. This was her least favorite course but that wouldn't really stop her from kicking some major ass as usual.

The game started like they all did. She started poking around the course, occasionally assisting in a kill but never getting into one-on-one fights. Then out of the blue, she was killed.

_Cutebutt killed Bubbles._

Her heart stopped as she read her screen. Cutebutt, as in _her_ Cutebutt? Cutebutt as in Uchiha Sasuke?

The replay of her death showed that she had been sniped from the top of a turret. If she had been in any normal state she would have been annoyed considering she thought that snipers were the scum of the game.

But no. Sasuke. He was in the game she was. Did he know it was her playing as _Bubbles_? Part of her hoped he did.

_Wait, wait wait. Sasuke's probably not the only person who is named Cutebutt._

Yeah, as if. This was a local game. It was him, her cutebutt. Oh wait, but that had fallen through quite nastily, hadn't it? He wasn't hers, nor had he ever really been.

Hinata was completely thrown when she re-spawned. Her grip on the controller was weak and she hadn't moved yet.

Survival instincts kicked in as an enemy came into plain sight. She took him out in one headshot, successfully getting herself back into game-mode. Part of her hoped to find _Cutebutt_ and enact revenge.

* * *

Sasuke, as usual, didn't even read the text on the screen of his COD 4 game. He had no idea who he had just killed, and honestly didn't care. He and Naruto were at Kiba's just hanging out. Naruto was leafing through a Playboy magazine with Kiba peering over his shoulder. Perverts.

This was his first game in a while. He was the last one to get into his queue, and since Kiba and Naruto were otherwise occupied he knew he would probably be playing for a while longer.

Being a sniper, though far from his favorite role, nevertheless was a good choice when you hadn't played the game lately and you needed to warm up. Sasuke was doing just that.

Out of the blue, an enemy snuck up behind him, avoiding the mine he had placed for protection. Embarrassingly, Sasuke found himself getting shanked from behind nastily. Naruto, who had torn his eyes away from the soft porn to observe Sasuke's situation, exploded in laugher. (Note: shanking is when you instakill an enemy with a knife.)

"Che, what are you laughing at?"

Naruto laughed more, pointing at the screen. "You just got shanked by Hinata."

Sasuke's whole system seemed to freeze. His eyes flicked to the corner that displayed who was killing whom and saw, though he was still in a daze, the stone-cold evidence to the fact.

_Bubbles killed Cutebutt_.

Oh my. His man-pride didn't even take a blow from that it was so odd. I mean yes, he knew that Hinata liked videogames like Halo and that she was a natural sharpshooter, but this was still messed up.

Apart from the tiny feeling of wrongness that he felt from the shanking, he was drowning most in the fact that _she_ was there.

Lately she had been so elusive that he thought her some ethereal creature that his heart-heavy mind had created. But no, she was here, killing him with a nicely aimed shank. Wow.

"Uh, Kiba… I think Sasuke's brain just exploded."

Kiba, aware of the present SasuHina situation, smacked the unaware Naruto over the head with the magazine. "Shut up asshole."

Naruto was also unaware of the newly awakened KibaSaku situation. If he were, he'd probably not have accepted the invitation to hang out.

Suddenly, coming out of his bewilderment, Sasuke calmly quit out of the game and delicately laid the controller on the coffee table. He put his face in his hands and stayed like that for a few seconds as he took a deep breath before falling to the side so he was now lying on the couch he had been sitting on.

The blond jumped up at this chance to play and snatched the controller.

Sasuke seemed to be planning something, although how they could tell neither of his friends knew.

It turned out he was, for in the middle of Naruto's next game, he stated a simple, monotonous question.

"What's the date?"

"Uhh… July 14th?" Kiba ventured, shrugging as he said it.

"Yeah, something like that…" Naruto muttered, though he really had no idea.

Sasuke didn't say another word for a while. However, he did have a plan. Coming into contact with Hinata, even if it was through a videogame, had shaken him up into manly action.

Plus, if his plan failed, he could always just kidnap her. Maybe.

* * *

The 'plan' arrived in Hinata's mailbox 2-4 business days later.

It was a thick, seemingly expensive envelope that housed a square letter. Something about the convivial and yet formal handwritten script that spelled out her name made her think that it was an invitation of sorts.

Hinata had left to gather the mail as she normally did whenever she heard it come. The letter was the last one she saw as she flicked through the bills, ads, and magazines.

When she reached the den where her father was reading the paper, she snuck her letter away from the crowd into the front pocket of her hoodie—excuse me, _Sasuke's_ hoodie that she was wearing.

Carefully honed patience stopped her from opening it until she reached the safety of her room.

There was no return address, which slightly unnerved her.

Finally, after lightly shutting the door and lying down on her bed, she opened it, sliding her pointer finger to break the seal.

_To the Exquisite Lady Nata-chan,_

_You have been cordially invited to the annual Uchiha camping trip. Understand that normally no one outside of the family is allowed on this expedition, but considering that I am now in charge of all the familial affairs, I can do what I want. _

_This truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity to participate that shall not be extended again. I recommend that you act with the utmost haste to secure your spot on the guest list. _

_There is only one spot, so time is of the essence. _

_I would love to hear back from you with regards to this invitation, and I do indeed hope that you will accept. _

_Sincerely, Uchiha Sasuke_

_P.S. you know you want to. _

Slightly offended, slightly amused, Hinata re-read the letter again, laughing at certain bits. She forgot to scold herself for starting to draw up the blueprint for the bridge she just tried to burn.

She forgot to distance herself from her friends and from him.

She forgot that contact would upset her.

She decided to write him back.

* * *

He received her letter a few days after sending his original out. It wasn't very fancy like his had been, but the intent was clear. He nearly soiled himself when he stole a glance at the day's mail.

In his terrible haste to open the envelope, he just ripped the whole thing in half. Uh oh.

After speedy clear tape reparation, he was set and ready to go. Cutely, he was sitting on the edge of his chair and was rubbing his hands together in preparation.

_To the Eloquent Master Suke-kun,_

_I received your letter and felt obliged to respond in the same style. _

_I regret to inform you, however, that I will not be able to join you on your camping trip. There are prior commitments that must be upheld, certainly a man of your stature would understand. Also, you should be ashamed of contacting me, especially against my wishes. _

_Obligations aside, another reason for my inability to go remains. It appears that a certain '_Cutebutt_' was responsible for the sniped death of a certain '_Bubbles_'. I will not, in any instance, decide to spin tales around a campfire with my own murderer. _

_Suck it, fool._

_Sincerely, Nata-chan._

_P.S snipers are the scum of the COD universe.

* * *

_His response came quicker than the mailman would have been able to give it, implying that he probably ran it over himself, a fact that Hinata did not miss.

_Nata-chan,_

_Cut the crap. Why on earth would you have written me back if my contacting you was against your wishes?_

_--Suke-kun._

_P.S Oh, the event hath been cancelleth on account of a missing guest of honor. Guess who's fault that was?_

Without even thinking about her actions, she had a piece of paper and a pen ready to respond. It was only two words, but she was willing to pay the 39 cents for a stamp just to get her point across.

_I'm sorry_.

After writing that, her phone buzzed again. It was him.

She hesitated in reaching for it, but in the end, love prevailed. It was just too difficult for her to keep ignoring people.

Her voice was shaky and quiet when she accepted the call. "H-hello?"

"_You don't have to sleep in the same tent as me if that's what your worrying about."_ Sasuke said it with complete certainty… as if that had been her problem all along. The seriousness to his tone made her silent for a few moments before giggles overtook her, soon to lead into full-fledged laughs.

"_I'm serious."_ He said angrily. She almost found herself believing him, which showed how good of an actor he was, although he lost some credit for it being over the phone.

"I… I…" Hinata calmed down just enough to just sputter out one word over again.

"_Why did you pick up?"_ Sasuke asked seriously. He had not laughed during the entire conversation. Admittedly, he didn't really laugh all too much to begin with so the feat was not _too_ godlike.

Hinata blushed glad that he couldn't see. She honestly had no idea and voiced as much. "I… I have no idea."

"_That's good enough for me. How are things?" _His low, slightly monotonous voice was damn sexy over the phone.

"Sasuke… I can't talk."

"_Why? Are you at gunpoint right now? I'm serious Hinata, if you are say 'I love you'." _

He was so _beautifully_ different over the phone than he was face to face. It seemed that he allowed himself to be more sarcastic and funny, and she liked that. But what she didn't like was that he had actually made contact with her.

But honestly, she was fighting a losing battle with herself. She wanted to be with him and her other friends so badly, but she wanted to go where they went, not stay home.

"Sasuke…" She chose to ignore the butterflies that starter forming in her stomach. "Why did you really call?"

There was silence on his end.

"I… you know you're making this harder for me. Why are you doing this?" She must have been PMSing because she started to tear up. Her last sentence came through a little choked.

"_Because I just want to go camping with you." _

"I can't."

"_Listen Nata-chan. I will come, break into your house and demand that you pack a bag with a few clothes and **then** kidnap you. How's that sound?"_

"I can't." Again.

"_I am no longer asking you."_

"I can't."

"_Why can't you just stop holding onto the past and fearing the future? The present is all that matters."_

That stung. She wanted so badly to be able to do that but she _just couldn't_. It was all she wished for to be able to just let go.

And in her inability to do so, she went for the honestly drastic. She blurted out something she had been sitting on for a while.

"Sasuke… I love you."

"_Shit, so **now**__ you're at gunpoint?"_

In any other situation Hinata would have laughed at his response. Instead her tears started running thickly.

"I love you. I hope you become successful in your life. G-goodbye."

She hung up right before he said, _"I love you too."

* * *

_He personally thought her brain a touch addled. Who on earth admitted their love only to give their farewell right after? He tried calling back but his call was ignored. And again… and again.

"Fuck!" He growled, tossing his phone onto his table angrily. _Why can't she just get it? It's really not that hard!_

The very fact that he was not freaking out about saying the monumental three words plus one was because he so truly meant them that saying them to her was like breathing. He didn't know what to do anymore. What _could_ he possibly do?

The exchanging of letters was wonderful, and the beginning of the phone call was fantastic. She had changed her emotions so fast it was scary. Just when he thought he had been making significant process, she just collapsed under her own conscious.

But he loved her even more for it. Love has a tendency to make you see all the faults as good points, somehow.

What was he to do now? There was no way that he was about to go camping by himself. That would just bring up memories of what the annual Uchiha camping trip was before they were all killed. Probably not so good of an idea.

Maybe it was time to give up. He was fighting a losing battle against a girl who refused to see sense.

Quitters never win, but those who persist don't always win either.

Sasuke didn't know what to do, forget or keep going. Go against _her_ wishes even though in her heart she wants it? Go against _his _wishes and destroy everything he had worked for over the last year? Logically, he shouldn't give up, but emotionally he felt drained.

Maybe he would try and see if she would come to him on her own.

Sadly, she only had a week longer to do that before he left Konoha and went to attend Akatsuki University, which was located quite the ways away. It took a long plane ride to get there.

Time's running out Nata-chan…

* * *

**I do believe that was a really bad way to have them finally admitting their deep love (you know, spontaneously) and I apologize. I got the idea for this when I was playing COD and I killed my crush that I didn't realize was playing against.**

**Although, I ended up calling him up and laughing at him for losing to a girl. That's beyond the point though.**

Scenes from the finale:

_The remaining letters swirled around slowly. She got "STRDOIS" and "HNAGOFO", simple alphabetical nonsense. Though, if she thought about it analytically, she could get both "go for it" or "don't go for it" from those letters. Some sign that was, but since when had Alphabet-Os been prophetical? _

_-&-  
_

"_Do you realize you were going 15 miles above the speed limit, miss?"_

"_Uh… well… I suppose I was, yes." Looking up out of her panicked eyes, she saw someone she never thought she'd see ever again. _

_Simon. Simon McCreepster._

_Terrible surprise shocked all thoughts of Sasuke retrieval out of her noggin for a moment as she froze. Then he trickled back in and she started to panic again, obviously not having the time for this. She had to __**go**__. _

_There was one option that she thought—no, __**knew**__ would work. She didn't have the time to be chatted up again. _

_And thus Hyuga Hinata chose to do something she thought she would never do._


	19. Qualms of Quitting

Fixed the ending. Realized I was being lame and knew I was perfectly capable of ending it not stupidly. I'm very sorry for those of you who read the first ending.

I haven't been on in a while, this is true.

I have no excuse.

But I tell you now, I hope you'll read more of my work...

... Because I assure you, I'll be back.

* * *

Scenes From Last Episode:

_Maybe it was time to give up. He was fighting a losing battle against a girl who refused to see sense._

_Quitters never win, but those who persist don't always win either._

_Sasuke didn't know what to do, forget or keep going. Go against __her wishes even though in her heart she wants it? Go against __his wishes and destroy everything he had worked for over the last year? Logically, he shouldn't give up, but emotionally he felt drained._

_Maybe he would try and see if she would come to him on her own._

_Sadly, she only had a week longer to do that before he left Konoha and went to attend Akatsuki University, which was located quite the ways away. It took a long plane ride to get there._

_Time's running out Nata-chan…_

* * *

Time didn't run out.

Sasuke's hands were bound as Hinata straddled him. He wanted to touch her back, but she wasn't letting him. Then she went the whole nine yards and blindfolded him, shutting out all sight. He knew it was her… somehow.

"This… this isn't fair." He growled, very aware of her leaning towards his left ear. Her warm, moist breath was tickling and he could feel a blush come from pure enjoyment.

"It's not meant to be."

Her voice was husky and it drove him nearly to the edge of his sanity. He cried out a tiny bit as she licked his ear lobe, reveling in the peculiar feeling of the tip of her nose in his ear.

* * *

Sasuke jumped involuntarily, his forehead hitting the cold glass of the taxi window that he had been dozing on.

So, actually time ran out.

It was just a dream. Just the best dream he had had in… in ever.

Coming back to reality in a snap, he vaguely heard someone laughing at his disorientation and turned his head sharply to the right to see Shikamaru chuckling, holding one of his earphones out of his ear.

"You alright?" Shikamaru asked, a smirk breaking out over his tired face.

"I'm fine." Sasuke got over his embarrassment by taking out his own Ipod. Shikamaru shook his head lightly before closing his eyes again and popping in the other earphone. Sheesh, even in the cramped backseat of a taxi he could laze around.

Even though Sasuke's heart rate started to slow, he was still panting. He tried to make it seem that he wasn't on edge, but was failing epically. That had felt more real than sex ever had. And they hadn't even technically had intercourse. It was simply raw, unbelievable foreplay.

He remembered his exact situation with a jolt. He was leaving for college today.

Sasuke and Shikamaru were on a taxi to the airport together early. Early meaning 6 in the morning. Though Sasuke always woke up well and fine whenever he had to get up early, this morning sucked balls. It would have been a lot better if he hadn't just had quite the dream with Nata-chan.

_She didn't come to me…_ He thought sadly, cruel realization finally dawning. But he really couldn't have done much more, short of kidnapping, to try to salvage at least something of their pairing.

_Maybe I should have kissed her…_ He thought vaguely before mentally berating himself for thinking it. The past failed to matter now. He was as good as gone.

But, if he would have kissed her, she couldn't have thought about it and her first reaction would have been to kiss back and then they would have just been unstoppable. He honestly had that much confidence in his kissing skills, and hers as well. If she was any where as good as she had been in the dream… he couldn't even fathom it.

Sadly, it mattered little now. Sasuke and Shikamaru, though they could never be called besties, held a mutual respect for the other with regards to their intelligence. They were more alike than anyone else in their group, besides maybe Neji. The three of them (including Neji) were all smart, talented, and when they spoke it was something that everyone should listen to. That's mainly why they had planned to carpool to the airport.

Because of the likenesses, Sasuke and Shikamaru were both glad that there wasn't some chatterbox riding with them. It was early, they had minor hangovers, and they were leaving their old lives behind… talking wasn't exactly on the to-do list.

When they got to Akatsuki University (known hereafter as just Akatsuki), they would split up and probably not see each other too often. Even after fulfilling their credits for the history, math, etc. Shikamaru would be taking classes in analyzing, psychology and a little sociology and Sasuke would go for literature, creative writing, and maybe a class in journalism.

It was nice to have a friend there, although neither of them would admit it.

Sakura and Ino had thrown a party last night. Three guesses as to who didn't show and the last two don't count.

It was fun, as they all got smashed again. There were a lot of tears as Sasuke and Shikamaru were leaving the next day to Akatsuki, Sakura the day after to a med school and Naruto, Chouji and Ino to various places in the country three days after. Bad news bears…

It was sad, but they managed to have one more night of fun between them, the illustrious Konoha Twelve, minus Hinata, Neji, Tenten and Shino (three of whom were already off to college). So it was more like the Konoha Eight.

You know what they say… two's a party, three's a crowd, eight is a drunken explosion of good friends saying goodbye. Try to comprehend twelve… oh my.

Hinata was being a cowardly, weak wimp. That was the truth of the matter. She was being stubborn too, which added a nice layer of annoying on top of it all. But they loved her, so it didn't matter. They all just wanted to spend time with her.

But… no.

* * *

Hinata was the perfect combination of Early Bird and Night Owl. She could go to sleep at three in the morning, and yet wake at six with absolutely no trouble at all (unless she was under the influence of either alcohol or sugar).

The aforementioned example was her exact situation this morning. She had been up until three, unable to sleep because of her anxious thoughts, and had woken subconsciously at around six without the drive to fall back asleep.

At this moment, 5:47 to be exact, she sat at the dining room counter, staring straight into her cereal bowl that housed the remaining half of her Alphabet-Os.

She was distraught. Sasuke was leaving off to whatever college. She had never asked which one.

"Come on…" Hinata whispered urgently, trying to channel some inner energy into her cereal. "Please give me a sign…"

The remaining letters swirled around slowly. She got "SUTRDOIS" and "KNCGOFO" in clumps, simple alphabetical nonsense. Though if she thought about it analytically she could get both "go for it" or "don't go for it" from those words. Some sign that was, but since when had Alphabet-Os been prophetical?

Also written in her cereal was "fuck it". So she could do "fuck, go for it" or "fuck, don't go for it".

Suddenly, the "D" became so waterlogged (or in this case, _milk_logged) that it began to sink into the white depths.

That was her sign.

After moving so fast that she actually went _back_ in time, Hinata was in the garage, leaping over her door while turning on the car with a button on the keys and opening the garage. Her heart was pounding madly as she waited for the damn door to open all the way.

As soon as it opened just enough for her to squeeze through, she went petal to the metal.

T'was quite the nice sound at 6 in the morning.

* * *

Sasuke was about to drift off to sleep again when a tap on his shoulder alerted him to his senses. Shikamaru was leaning slightly over the mass of bags with a sly smile on his face.

"So… what happened with you and Hinata?"

The simple question rocked Sasuke to his core. It was as if Shikamaru had just stabbed him through the throat. Not even the heart, the _neck_, ensuring a slow, painful death by blood-loss.

"It never took off." Sasuke muttered, shrugging. Though normally one to lie and deny all connection with a relationship with a messy end, he found that he really didn't care about what people thought. It was only Shikamaru, and whom would he tell?

"That's a shame. You know she would be coming to Akatsuki too if it weren't for her father being a total ass?"

Sasuke's eyes widened as this new realization hit him. He would keel over dead if he kept getting hit with these world-rocking ironies.

Hinata would have come to the same school he did. They would have been on the same campus for around four years. How could he have never known?

"She never told me that." Sasuke growled, furrowing his brow. He was very tempted to stop the car and go punch Hinata's father right through the teeth. This was way. Too. Unfair!

"I heard it from Neji. Apparently she wasn't going to tell anyone until she got the ok from her dad, but he shut her down. He threatened to take away her inheritance and position as next-head of the company."

Oh shit. Now he understood why she couldn't have just defied her father. He, and everyone else in their group of friends knew that practically Hinata's entire existence had been to appease and prove herself to her father. The fact that he threatened that was just cruel and probably the one thing that could have made her obey him.

"Ass." Sasuke said quietly.

"Indeed."

* * *

Hinata got to Sasuke's apartment building in record time, having run a few stop signs and maybe a red light or two. She almost died of the overwhelming sense of thankfulness when there was a perfect parking spot. After hurtling through the revolving doors, she ran as fast as she could to the elevator.

"If you're looking for Sasuke, he and a friend of his got on an airport taxi not ten minutes ago…"

The sudden sound make Hinata jump, and she turned around quickly to see the host at the desk looking at her oddly. "W-what do you mean?"

"They had a bunch of bags with them. My guess is that they're off to college."

As soon as he said that, she was at the spinning doors again, muttering a hasty "Thank you!"

Jumping over the car door instead of opening it again, Hinata wasted no time in firing up and speeding in the direction of the airport. She was more terrified than she had been in a very long time.

"No… no, no, no…" She kept muttering over and over again, pressing her foot on the petal even harder as she got on the highway.

Then a cruel catastrophe happened. As she was barreling down a 55 mph zone at 70 mph, she heard the unmistakable sound that signaled her doom.

The siren of a cop car.

Outrun or pull over? If she pulled over she might lose Sasuke, but if she tried to outrun the police she could get caught and sent to jail. _Shit! _

Logic won as she slowed down drastically and pulled off to the side, all the while checking the clock on the dashboard every other second. _Damn it! Why can't he go faster?_

The officer had just reached her and opened his door. Hinata felt her heart grow heavy with every step he took. She had never, _ever_ gotten a ticket… and what a way to get your first one!

She had her head bowed down in shame as he finally reached her.

"Do you realize you were going 15 miles above the speed limit, miss?"

"Uh… well… I suppose I was, yes." Looking up out of her panicked eyes, she saw someone she never thought she'd see ever again.

Simon. Simon McCreepster.

Terrible surprise shocked all thoughts of Sasuke retrieval out of her noggin for a moment as she froze. Then he trickled back in and she started to panic again, obviously not having the time for this. She had to _go_.

There was one option that she thought—no, _knew_ would work. She didn't have the time to be chatted up again.

And thus Hyuga Hinata chose to do something she thought she would never do.

"Oh my god!" She said, adopting a surprised expression. "I can't believe it's you!"

Simon looked down at her quizzically. He had obviously forgotten about her, which made her a little pissed. "Do I know you?"

"You don't remember?" Hinata asked with a high, almost valley-girl tone. "Oh, I guess our run in was more monumental for me than it was for you… You were the reason I broke up with my boyfriend actually."

One thing was certain; she could weave a sturdy web of lies in a second if she wanted to. Also, note the lack of stutter!

"I don't—"

"It was at the beach, and I was a life guard. You don't remember? You told me I had pretty eyes." Hinata said, pouting in an 'I can't believe it' face.

"Uh… Oh! It's you! But didn't your boyfriend come and—"

Hinata's face darkened at the mention of her 'boyfriend'. "I broke up with him because, one, I liked you, and two, he was an overprotective asshole who never let me _look_ at another guy. Let alone talk to one. I got fed up with it after you left and broke it off with him!"

Simon narrowed his eyes, trying to remember if it had happened that way.

_It's now or never._ Hinata thought gravely. She already knew that she was wearing a small tank top and it was time to use it.

Leaning towards him slightly, she pressed her breasts together with her arms a little, looking into his eyes with an adoring expression. "I'm really grateful to you. I don't know what I would have done if I were to stay in that relationship. I wish there was some way…" She bit her bottom lip "that I could repay you…"

He smirked, crossing his arms in front of his chest in a smug manner. "What do you have in mind?"

He sensed an easy lay.

"You can have anything you want from me. _A-ny-thing._ Surely there's something you would want…" she shrugged, adopting a look of pure innocence. Yup, she was winning.

"You've got quite a spacious car." He stated, an evil smirk sliding onto his face. "I've also got handcuffs."

Hinata almost puked. But she couldn't, she had to keep up the act. She faked a smirk. "Tonight then. Go to the beach parking lot at midnight and we'll go until dawn."

She almost started laughing at the terrible line. As bad as it was, it worked. Simon's face alighted in a savage glee. "Oh, you know we will… I guess I'm just going to let you off with a warning now, you'll get your punishment tonight…"

With nothing more than a smirk, Hinata drove off, waiting until she was away to gag and die a little bit inside.

But hey, it worked.

There weren't a lot of taxis in Konoha, and the few that were there were airport taxis. Hinata reasoned that the odds were in her favor that if she found a taxi at this hour, it might be holding Sasuke. And so she sped down the highway, now going 20 mph over, trying to make up for lost time.

She was glad the top was down, because the rushing wind gave her adrenaline that made her go faster. When she finally exited the highway, her hair was a windswept mess.

But then she saw it.

Waiting at the red light was one solitary airport taxi. It was in the left turning lane, about to turn onto the road that would lead to the airport.

Logic, though it normally came to her with no problem, was on holiday. Hinata drove quickly up to the side of the taxi, in the lane that went straight only. Uh oh. Her heart was beating in great leaps, slowly, but with huge beats that she felt up in her throat.

_Please let him be in there…_

The taxi, she could see, held a fair skinned yet dark man who was listening to his Ipod. He had spiky, jet black hair and pretty features…

But he was not Sasuke.

At the look of his hair, Hinata was enlivened in with hope for the first time on this quest, only to have it all shot down. She was tempted to cry, but held it in.

Her tear ducts would be tested again in one more second as the light turned green and Hinata went off straight because of the lane she was in and the taxi turned left, to the airport.

"No, no no!" She muttered frantically, attempting to get into the turn lane but was spurned into going straight by honking behind her.

She cursed under her breath and sped straight, burning an impressive amount of rubber.

* * *

Airports were unnecessarily troublesome. That's what Sasuke decided, channeling a little bit of Shikamaru. There was an incredible amount of traffic in the lanes leading to the drop-off points, even this early in the morning. People were honking and yelling and it was hot in the car, so both of them were getting annoyed already.

And they weren't even in the airport yet.

Once out of the car, Shikamaru and Sasuke took all of their bags and wheeled them into the packed entrance. There was a long, snaking line that led into the place where you dropped off your bags, and an equally long line to go through security. Both would take forever.

"We'll get on the flight on time." Shikamaru mumbled, checking his watch. They were both geniuses but the speed at which he had deduced that was frighteningly impressive.

"Better see to it then."

* * *

Airports sucked balls. That's what Hinata decided, channeling a little bit of Kiba. Eight dollars for parking? A ten-minute line to pay eight dollars for parking? Nuh uh. La-a-a-ame.

But still, she did it. Anything for love.

After the ridiculous wait and fee, Hinata entered the sliding doors to the airport. She did a quick scan of the atrium she was in and failed to find Sasuke, so she strode quickly and confidently to the security check, going to a corner where a security guard was looking menacing while standing over the personnel entrance.

_He_ was menacing? Well she was so demonically intimidating right now that a witness swore he saw fire erupt from the ground where she stepped. Hell hath no fury like a woman who has only a few minutes to get through airport security and find the man she's in love with at an unknown gate going to an unknown city that housed an unknown college. I'm sure I've heard that saying somewhere… hmm.

"Excuse me, I'm in a hurry." Hinata stated sweetly, implying that she needed to bypass the line. The guard looked at her shiftily, as if asking her to say it again.

"Sorry, miss, you'll just have to wait in line like everybody else," He finally grunted, averting his gaze away from her face.

"I'm really sorry…" She leaned forward to get a look at his name "… Ken, but I really cannot wait in the line. I can't miss seeing someone off."

"You'll just have to." Ken shot, his temper short because of the early morning.

Psh, he thought _he_ was angry?

_Why on earth didn't I ask him where he was going to college?_ She could call someone like Sakura or Kiba! She reached towards where she thought her bag would be, but then felt her stomach drop out when she realized she had left it under the seat of her car.

Now in a mild state of hysteria, Hinata knew that she had to bring out the inner, fiery bitch she knew she possessed.

"Listen well, my daddy owns this fucking airport, so either you let me through this very instant or I will get daddy to fire you and ensure you don't get another job in the _next five years_, understand?"

The prettiest rose oft yields the sharpest thorns.

Ken looked at her in unmistakable fear for a moment while she just glared at him in a look that would have killed a puppy.

"Ken, _do you understand?"_ she asked, her voice dropping low, venom dripping from ever word.

He jumped as if a shock ran through him. Fumbling with the latch that was the only thing in the way of this demon-girl, Ken tried to let her through without losing any time.

When he finally opened it, she walked through regally and paused once she was through to bow and go back into her polite-mode. "Thank you very much, sir. I'll be sure to tell my daddy all about what you did."

Turning on her heel, she pranced away, breaking out into a run once she rounded the corner.

_Wait. Wait wait wait. Where am I going? _She stopped in front of a drink vending machine, skidding a little as the shoes she wore had absolutely no grip.

The enormity of the odds of finding him finally got to her, driving her to wrap her arms around herself in a hug. She started to cry in both anger and futility, her eyes watering painfully as she tried to keep the tears in.

_I can't do this. I'm in the largest airport in the country trying to find a plane going to some place I don't know. _

But why the hell should she give up?

_Wait, I can try. Brain before brawn, Hinata._

She gasped after a few minutes of quick brainstorming. An idea that was more likely to fail than to succeed manifested, and she started running in the direction she had been before.

If there was one thing she could count on in this earth, it was that someone would have seen Uchiha Sasuke pass just because he was so god damned attractive.

"The plane to Iwa is now boarding those with tickets labeled C."

Sasuke and Shikamaru looked at their tickets at the same time, noting that they were E.

_Wow. It takes like, twenty minutes to get through one letter. This will take so fucking long! I just want to leave!_

"So, about Hinata… did you love her?" Shikamaru asked out of sheer curiosity.

Sasuke looked at him with an indifferent gaze that Shikamaru immediately got ticked at. So Sasuke never really cared. Figures.

"Sorry, what did you say?" He asked genuinely, causing Shikamaru to sweat-drop.

"Did you love Hinata?"

There was the reaction he had been searching for. Sasuke seemed to just break, right in front of him. Sasuke held his breath and let it out in one short burst.

"I still do."

And that, ladies and gentlemen (if there are any gentlemen readers) was the single weirdest thing Shikamaru (or any friends of Sasuke) had ever heard come out of Sasuke's mouth.

* * *

"Did an unbelievably attractive boy my age walk this way?"

Hinata was talking earnestly to a twenty-something girl working at a magazine stand, the fourth girl she had asked the question to. Each one she asked had led her in the direction she went. Nice plan Nata-chan! (A/N: RHYMING!!! XD!!!!11!!1)

The girl looked up from the _Cosmopolitan_ she was reading to stare at Hinata oddly. They both stood like that for a few terrible moments before the girl's face lit up.

"Oh! Did he have spiky black hair and dark eyes that, like, peered right into your very soul?"

"Yep, that's _definitely_ him." Hinata nodded, smiling in spite of her situation. It seemed everybody always looked at him. She could barely believe he had eyes for only her.

Well, that might not be the case anymore. She had been the royal coward and hid from confrontation up until he left. But she was making up for it now, hopefully.

"He boarded that plane right across from us about, eh, ten minutes ago."

Whipping around without even thanking the girl, Hinata gasped when the gate was empty save for one family looking out the window at the plane that, mercifully, hadn't left yet.

Completely in hysterics now, Hinata ran to the window and pressed her nose to it, squinting at the large plane that was bound to leave any minute. "No… no… no!"

Turning her head to see the destination, she almost collapsed into fits of sobbing.

He was headed for Iwa. The only place in Iwa was Akatsuki University.

The same Akatsuki that her father forbade her from going to.

* * *

Lucky Sasuke had gotten the window seat, so Shikamaru had to watch the goings-on outside the plane with a craned neck. The prince of darkness himself (Sasuke) had his eyes closed and was listening to Debussy cranked up to max on his Ipod, not taking advantage of the view.

Shikamaru's eyes looked over the men in bright orange vests loading bags onto the plane, over the cars speeding over the runway, before he eventually took in the windows of the gate they had just gotten out of. There was a family waving ceaselessly at the plane, far away, but not too much so.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he tried to get a better look at them, but his attention was stolen by a sudden movement of a solitary figure to the left of the family. It was a girl with long dark hair.

A familiar girl with long dark hair.

As he stared, she dropped to her knees, with one hand on the window.

"Shit. Sasuke. OI!" Shikamaru's eyes didn't leave the girl. He tapped Sasuke on the forehead, who jumped and pulled out the earphones with an angry, "Wha?"

"She still loves you too." The lazy genius said, pointing.

Sasuke was bewildered beyond reckoning. He turned slowly, disbelievingly towards the window. A girl with dark hair drew his gaze. A girl he knew. A girl he loved.

Oh no.

Just as the weight of realization him, he felt the pull towards doom.

The plane had started moving.

Oh no.

So began the worst plane ride in the long and exciting history of plane rides. Crashing would have been better. Well, no, but whatever.

* * *

Time went in a blur of the depression Sasuke was so good at. His sun had been stolen. He arrived in Iwa, taxied over to the campus, moved his things into his dorm, and dropped face down in a heap on his bed.

He failed to notice that Iwa was a fantastic city with bizarre rock formations coming out of the ground randomly, and was surrounded by mountains. The sun shone, but it wasn't terribly hot like Konoha. It was a truly fantastic place. But he didn't notice.

The campus looked like it came straight out of the Harry Potter books, with old, castle-looking buildings, hidden slightly into a mountain. Magic or no, Sasuke still didn't notice.

His dorm was large, spacious, and with a nice view and even a small balcony. And yet still, he took no note.

The only thing he noticed was the clean smell of the sheets on his bed, which his face was pressed into.

He stayed there, in that position until nightfall. He never slept. Sasuke was more stuck in a state of meditative stupor.

For eight hours straight he was in the meditative stupor. For the four hours after all his thoughts lead to one place only:

_I have to get over her. I have to move on.

* * *

_

It was around 12:15pm when he heard the first pebble on the window. Followed by a second, then third. The barrage stopped for a few seconds where he lifted his head and stared out the dark window before the window was hit by an angry shower of stones.

Confused and groggy, he pushed himself off the bed and pushed open the sliding door slowly. The sound of crickets and wind met him for the first time. It was nice, refreshing rather.

Regaining his composure, he approached the edge of the balcony and looked down to see…

No one. It was dark anyway. He made to turn around, but then a voice spoke from the void of shadow.

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?"

His hands gripped the edge of the balcony tightly. No.

"It is the East, and… Sasuke is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief that thou, her… man, art far more fair than she. Be not her man since she is envious. Her vestal livery is but sick and green, and none but fools do wear it. Cast it off. It is my… lord, oh it is my love! O, that he knew he were! He speaks, yet he says nothing. What of that?"

No. It can't be.

And yet he still went through with the line to match, albeit not the next in sequence technically.

"My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words of thy tongue's uttering, yet I know the sound. Art thou not _supposed to be in Konoha, studying business?"_

It was.

"Neither, fair lord, if either thee dislike."

Sasuke couldn't see her, though that voice could not have belonged to anyone else.

"Why are you here?" He asked, cutting to the chase. She must have jumped through a waterfall of magma to get here.

"Can you let me up?"

Sasuke froze for a minute. He had completely forgotten about the fact that he was in a secure place.

"Room 27."

He nearly tripped over the threshold of the balcony in his haste to get back in. After reaching the front door, he heard a buzz coming from the box next to the frame. Sasuke had never used the box before, but he wasn't _stupid_. He pressed a white button lightly, and heard her squeak, "thanks!"

Her soft knock on the door made him jump.

Subconsciously he checked his reflection in the mirror, fixed his hair from sleeping… er, _meditating_ on it. He then proceeded to smooth out his wrinkled clothes.

What a boy.

Opening the door, despite knowing exactly who it was, he was still surprised. Hyuga Hinata had come all the way across a whole country.

She made no move to come in, just stood, a sad smile alighting her features. "Tadaima, Suke-kun."

Sasuke smirked. What a thing to say. Technically she was never here, so she couldn't really say, "I'm home." But still, the meaning was beautiful.

"How?"

It was a simple question that he asked, but only because he was so completely bewildered. Normally he was able to figure out at least a little bit of a situation just by looking at it but... no. Not this time.

"With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls; for stony limits cannot hold love out. And what love can do, that dares love attempt." She muttered, tilting her head with the almost unachievable kitten-esque cuteness.

He grabbed one of her hands with both of his and pulled her gently inside, shutting the door with a very smooth action of the leg before pulling her into his warm embrace. "Enough Shakespeare."

Only Uchiha Sasuke was capable of such a sharp responce, while keeping his embrace soft.

He felt her smile into his shirt. "It's a long story."

"That I absolutely do not have time for." He muttered, smiling when she giggled.

She never left his arms while she spilled. "I realized I never wanted the inheritance, just father's approval, which I was never going to get. So I told him that, got yelled at, sold my car for a bundle, and got enough money for tuition, took all the money out of my bank and registered for a new account so he couldn't withhold the money. My mother was friends with the dean, so I got his favor and was allowed entry here so late. He even bought me an apartment. I guess that was the shortest long story ever, eh?"

Sasuke didn't speak at all. He just held her.

"Sasuke. Hey, are you asleep?" She asked after a good minute, still not moving from his arms. He smelled nice, as usual.

"No," He muttered into her hair, "Just happy. Okaeri, Nata-chan."


End file.
